Obama in Canada

The Star: U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Canada on Feb. 19.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/578644

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT!!!

First Day at work on Pennsylvania Ave

Wednesday: Israeli soldiers started too pull out from Gaza.


Wow, it's quite extraordinary to see Barack Obama in the Oval office were many great presidents such as FDR, Kennedy, and Clinton have once sat in. There are so many people who believe in Obama and he gives everyone hope for a better America.' He's not only touched Americans, but he has spread his charismatic personality and beacon of hope to us in Canada, down in Australia, Singapore, France, Kenya and so much more.
It is important to understand that there are great expectations for this great man and we need to be mindful of what is to come. Before Obama succeeds he will most likely fail, as the great Michael Jordan has quoted. But he's just inherited two hot wars, an economic crisis, America's tarnished reputation in the world and there is a great need to rebuild America's infrastructure. Indeed, he has a chosen a well rounded group of advisers who will most likely bicker about what is best for the country and tell him what kind of decisions to make. But those appointed people are only advising him. Ultimately only Obama can make those kinds of executive decisions for the people of America. And the foreign policy decisions he makes will obviously make an impact in the world. Can't you just see it now?? the OBAMA DOCTRINE in all the political science/world issue textbooks.
JFK, said in one of his speeches.."ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." I think this is quite important. People question " how is Obama going to unite the country?" Obama has the ability to inspire people from all across the nation and the world. When I see photos of Obama, and watch clips of him interacting with different people who live in the towns and cities he visits, he establishes a personal conversation with them. Obama looks at the person with great sincerity, shakes their hand and listens to what people are saying to him. More importantly, he recognizes them as citizens of a country whom elected him to serve his country and its people. He doesn't seem as if he is better than any of them just because he's the president. Obama, not only represents the first Black or half Black president, but he represents someone that anyone could look up too and become. It seems as if the politicians that I hear about in the media are corrupt and perhaps out for their own political agenda. These politicians have no disregard for anyone but themselves. They think they are untouchables and above the law. But I feel as if Obama is different. He represents someone we can respect as a role model for young people, and trust. He's not there for himself, but he's there for the people whom elected him. I don't know if this is a trend, and I hope that it doesn't fade away now that Obama is president, but there are more young people getting involved in the whole political process. He inspires young people to get involve with their community and their country. He is also trying to make the government more transparent so people, especially the younger generation will become involved in the political process. Our generation now has to live with all the mistakes, past generations have made regarding the economy and environment, and the only way we can change that is to get involve and engage with the government. If we want to see change in the future, change needs to start right now.
For me, I've come to recognize many things in the world that greatly needs to be improved on and when I look at Obama, I see a glimpse of hope that he can change America to become that force for good. Now more than ever, the world needs it. America's foreign policy needs to be geared toward multilateralism and establishment of more accountability and transparency in the financial system and governmental sectors. In regards to foreign policy, the world that we live in now is more fragile than ever. We're living in a post 9/11 era, where not only states can only call war or perhaps invade other states but there is a threat against external actors such as terrorist groups. There will be countries and external actors who will test the response of America's newly elected president. Whatever happens, it seems Obama is the right man for the job and has a good head on his shoulders. On the other hand, he hasn't exactly done anything yet because he's new at his job...but I will and I'm sure the rest of the world will be monitoring every move he makes. As I said in the beginning, before he succeeds...he will fail..everyone is going to be very critical of him....you most definitely can count on that.

Palestinians vs. Israeli's Crisis

It is very depressing to see what is going on in the world right now...with the Economic Crisis on its way and the war going on in the Middle East, there is too much conflict and not enough cooperation going on. It's absoloutely horrifying seeing these pictures....but regardless..

I'm just going to say that I am not pro-Palestine or pro-Israel. Many people come to their conclusion based on the bombardment of information they hear or read from the media sources. People turn to mass media as a source of information. Newspapers and news stations usually deliver a biased stance on on events and will unlikely have an impartial stance on things. But if you are looking to truly have an objective stance the mass media is the wrong place to look. Studying the historical context to influence your attitudes and ideas about the whole situation is essential. I'm not an expert on this whole problem but from what I've learned is What has been going on in the Middle East between the Palestinians and Israel has been going on for a very long time and is not some erratic action Israel decided to take on out of nowhere such as launching rockets into the Gaza Strip. Ever since the British and the rest of its allies "decided" to give the land Israel, to the Jews after WW2, the Palestinians land was taken away from them and given to the Jewish People. These Palestinian refugees are currently living in the outskirts of Israel in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Hamas, who is the overarching government in the Gaza strip have constantly launched rockets into the south of Israel on a daily basis. That is prior, to this whole occurrence, there was an established cease fire. If you can understand, Israel, has taken matters into their own hands and has decided to defend it self and the reason so many have civilians have been killed is because Hamas likes to situate themselves in social settings, such as schools, hospitals, mosques etc. Even though they are a recognized terrorist group by the U.S and it's allies because of their chosen tactics to further their political goals (i.e. suicide bombings), they were democratically elected by the Palestinian people. Hamas has done alot of good for the Palestinians in terms of executing much needed social programs such as providing adequate healthcare and proper schooling.

Hamas's soldiers are indistinguishable from regular civilians and most would say, their military capabilities are disorganized and less developled than the Israeli's. The Israels military system is quite efficent and sophisticated compared to other military regimes in the Middle East. Israels goal is to try demobolize Hamas in order for them to stop sending their missiles/rockets over into Israel. In addition- there is a religious conflict at large. Israel (a Jewish state) is surrounded by Muslim countries, and perhaps there justification of launching these air strikes is their way of trying to deter Hamas and inevitably protect themselves against the religious revival of Muslim states. However, the US will always back them up thanks to strong Jewish lobbying in the states.

In any case, my point is...try not to rely solely on the mass media when you base an opinion, because media sources are incredibly bias and sometimes leave it little bits and pieces. Sometimes, what is being reported may be taken way out of context. I'm not saying newspapers are wrong - they offer the counterpoint and keeps governments in check, but their main goal is to try to sell newspapers and perhaps certain stories will tend to be sensationlized. Check the facts and don't take things at face value. I've come to realize between Israel and Palestine that both sides are at fault and the United Nation mandates can only do so much..Once History starts it is very difficult to come to a peace negotiation or resolution because both parties are out for their own self interest and if a decision isn't made without both sides being entirely satisfactory than nothing is accomplished, and innocent people are left to fend for themselves...