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Barack Obama has made his historic speech as the first black president of the USA in front of huge crowds. » More
Barack Hussein Obama II (allegedly born in Honolulu,[1][2][3] August 4, 1961) is the 44th President of the United States, taking office on Jan. 20, 2009. Previously he served as a first-term Democratic Senator from Illinois (2004-2008) and then, along with his running mate Senator Joseph Biden, won the presidential election[4] after twenty-three months of campaigning, raising an unprecedented $750 million and spending over $700 million of it,[5] most of which came from anonymous donors. Post-election, Obama's aides surprised some by indicating that he would make an unprecedented speech within his first 100 days from a Muslim capital.[6] Obama will use his Muslim middle name when sworn into office.[7][8] Elected by claiming he's a Christian, Obama avoided attending church on Christmas and Sundays since Election Day.[9]
Obama has espoused the socialist idea of "spreading the wealth,"[10] in other words raising the tax rates on business and the wealthy to a burdensome level in order to redistribute their income to low income individuals, many of whom don't currently pay income taxes.[11] His health care plan forces employers to purchase health care or pay a fine and will force many into a poorly run single payer system.[12] To announce his trip to Berlin in July 2008, Obama used posters which show a marked similarity to posters of Lenin.[13] During Obama's youth in Hawaii, he developed a strong, almost Father/Son relationship with Frank Marshall Davis, a known Communist.[14]
Chicago, 5 November 2008
International Relations in the Age of Empire
Yes, We Can President Elect of United States Chicago, 5 November 2008 "..And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radiosin the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. ... And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more thatthe true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty,opportunity, and unyielding hope.." Reflections: "I see Obama less as a black man than as a successful negotiator of identity margins. His ability to inhabit so many categories mirrors the African experience. For America to choose as its citizen in chief such a skillful straddler of global identities could not help but transform the nation's image, making it once again the screen upon which the hopes and ambitions of the world are projected." - Cameroonian novelist and social scientist, 5 November 2008 "(Obama's) election rivaled the day in 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and the day 101 years later when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his There's never been a moment like this in our lifetime, ever... Obama is the postmodern race man. He can wear it, he can take it off, he can put it back on. It's just an aspect of his identity. .. People don't see him primarily as black. I think people see him primarily as an agent of change." Harvard scholar of African-American history |
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Message from Yoko Ono: Dear Friends,
When I heard that I was selected for the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award of 2009,
I felt like i was in a fog, listening to a foghorn far away! The fog slowly cleared.
The foghorn changed into the speech the director of the Biennale was giving on this
occasion. So what should I say…thank you? John would have been so proud of me.
“I told you, didn’t I?” he would say. I am glad, too.
I feel like I was suddenly given a huge birthday card. I see myself struggling to hold
it in my heart. Thank you for being there for me all these years. I am a lucky girl. yoko
Yoko Ono 1 March 2009 NYC Yoko Ono to receive Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion
at Venice Biennale 2009 As part of the 53rd... [More here ?]
Message from Yoko Ono: Dear Friends, When I heard that I was selected for the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award of 2009, I felt like i was in a fog, listening to a foghorn far away! The fog slowly cleared. The foghorn changed into the speech the director of the Biennale was giving on this occasion. So what should I say…thank you? John would have been so proud of me. “I told you, didn’t I?” he would say. I am glad, too. I feel like I was suddenly given a huge birthday card. I see myself struggling to hold it in my heart. Thank you for being there for me all these years. I am a lucky girl. yoko Yoko Ono 1 March 2009 NYC Yoko Ono to receive Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion at Venice Biennale 2009 As part of the 53rd... [More here ?]
Happy
Birthday YOKO! 18TH FEBRUARY 2009 IMAGINE PEACE TOWER - Viðey Island,
Reykjavik, Iceland. In celebration of Yoko Ono’s 76th birthday, and by
special arrangement with Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik Energy &
The City of Reykjavik, IMAGINE PEACE TOWER was illuminated from sunset
till... [More here ?] The
John & Yoko Amsterdam Bed-In took place from 25-31 March 1969 at
The Hilton Hotel, Amsterdam, Holland. The John & Yoko Montreal
Bed-In took place from 26 May to 2 June 1969 at The Queen Elizabeth
Hotel, Montreal, Canada, culminating in the recording of the anthem
“Give Peace A Chance”... [More here ?]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOKO!
BED PEACE 2009: 40th Anniversary 1969-2009
By
Catherine Jones, Liverpool Daily Post HE FAMOUSLY described it as
“anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional and
anti-capitalistic’. But now John Lennon’s magnum opus Imagine – dubbed
one of the greatest songs of all time – is to be performed on Liverpool
Cathedral’s bells. The... [More
John Lennon’s Imagine to ring out on Liverpool Cathedral’s bells
Gift
of Lennon’s Songbook Supports Amnesty International’s Global Campaign
on Darfur February 18, 2009 Yoko Ono’s generous gift to Amnesty
International — the right to have leading international musical artists
record new versions of John Lennon’s solo compositions – provided...
[Morehere ?]
$4m+ of INSTANT KARMA to Darfur
by Dave
Black, The Journal FAMILIES are being encouraged to add their creative
touches to a work by Yoko Ono. The-six day event is part of an
exhibition of the Japanese artist at the Baltic, on the Gateshead side
of the Tyne. Parents and children will use Yoko Ono’s 1966 Add Colour
Painting as inspiration... [More here ?]
Yoko Ono Baltic exhibition adds colour to the art world
Happy
Birthday YOKO! 18TH FEBRUARY 2009 IMAGINE PEACE TOWER - Viðey Island,
Reykjavik, Iceland. In celebration of Yoko Ono’s 76th birthday, and by
special arrangement with Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik Energy &
The City of Reykjavik, IMAGINE PEACE TOWER was illuminated from sunset
till... [More here ?]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOKO!
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: 1071 5th Ave, New York, NY 10128 01173, USA Thursday, April 2, 6:30pm; tickets $30 Third Mind Live Performances, Education, and Public Programs In conjunction with the exhibition, the Guggenheim Museum presents Third Mind Live, a performance and lecture series... [More here ?]
Montreal museum celebrates Bed-In anniversary April 2 to June 21, 2009 Following Warhol Live, this spring the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts will continue in a musical vein by celebrating the fortieth anniversary of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s famous 1969 Bed-in in Montreal with an exhibition designed... [More here ?]
The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860-1989 30 January 2009 – 19 April 2009 EXHIBITION EXPLORES IMPACT OF ASIAN ART AND THOUGHT ON AMERICAN ARTISTS FROM THE LATE 19TH THROUGH 20TH CENTURIES Approximately 250 Works by 100 Artists and Literary Figures from James McNeill Whistler to... [More here ?]
Yoko Ono reflects on her life, work and public perception History Professor Gordon Chang and Yoko Ono answered questions from the audience after Ono’s presentation Wednesday in Dinkelspiel Auditorium. by Cynthia Haven, Stanford Report, January 15, 2009 Tickets vanished within a few hours. Clearly,... [More here ?]
The 2008 stamp of the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER has been awarded a Bronze by Stamp News. From StampNews.com Top 10 extraordinary stamps of the year 2008 We at StampNews.com want to strike the balance of the passing year. Plenty of new stamps have seen the light all over the world. No question all of them... [More here ?]
Wed January 28th
Glasgow - BBC Scottish HQ, Pacific Quay 4.30pm
(called by Stop the War)
Edinburgh - BBC East Scotland, The Tun, Holyrood Rd 5.30pm (called by Scottish PSC)
SPSC will project the DEC's Appeal for Gaza onto the wall of the BBC building.
Speakers include Pauline Goldsmith, one of the four signatories of the actors' boycott letter BBC.
Protesters will today gather outside the BBC in Glasgow and Edinburgh against the controversial decision by the BBC not to air a Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) crisis appeal for the people of Gaza .
Mick Napier, chair of the SPSC, said, “The BBC’s decision to impede the humanitarian appeal on behalf of the people of Gaza comes on top of this well-substantiated record of pro-Israeli bias. It also comes to a population who see yet another invasion in the Middle East where the British government is on the wrong side and believe that the BBC is even more so. The Sun newspaper never recovered on Merseyside from its appalling misreporting of the Hillsborough disaster and the BBC may never recover from this similar violation of deeply held convictions. The great majority of British people clearly feel that Palestinians have been savaged and that denying aid to the victims is sadistic.”
Samena Dean, from the Islamic community said: “This has nothing to do with impartiality, but everything to do with Mark Thompson’s views on the conflict. He clearly wants to help Israeli punish the Palestinians for resisting the Occupation and the Siege. Mark Thompson visited Israel in 2005 and held talk with Ariel Sharon, the man responsible for the massacres at Sabra and Shatila. By the very fact that Mark Thompson would meet Sharon shows that he would rather ‘Aunty Beeb’ peddle Israeli propaganda then help to relive a humanitarian crisis in Gaza .”
Solidarity
Campaign started in autumn 2000 in response to the Palestinian second
uprising against Israeli occupation (intifada). The SPSC has branches
and groups of supporters in several Scottish cities and universities,
as well as individual members across Scotland .
For further information, contact:
Email: info@scottishpsc.org.uk
Website: www.scottishpsc.org.uk
2. BBC defends Gaza appeal decision:
The BBC has defended a decision not to air a TV fund-raising appeal for Gaza , saying it wanted to avoid compromising public confidence in its impartiality.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7846150.stm
3. BBC under pressure over Gaza emergency appeal
The BBC came under mounting pressure today to screen an emergency appeal for Gaza , after ITV, Channel 4 and Five all announced they will show it.
4. DEC would normally raise about £10 million:
A national appeal from the DEC would normally raise about £10 million, but without the broadcasts the total is certain to be lower.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5568735.ece
5. DEC Access and Impartiality
The DEC members are committed to humanitarian principles including
independence and have confirmed they are able to work without hindrance
from the Hamas controlled authorities both to identify who are the most
needy and to channel assistance to them directly, either through their
own staff or well established local non governmental partners. The DEC
members have submitted lists of partners and their banking
arrangements, to insure proper systems are in place.
http://www.dec.org.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?ap=1&id=320
6. General Background
The
State of Israel was founded through the systematic ethnic cleansing of
Palestine in 1948. This event, known as the 'Nakbah', or catastrophe,
to Palestinians, saw the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of them
from their homes. Those expelled are still refused their rights under
international law to return to return home. The crimes committed
against the Palestinian people did not end in 1948 however, and daily
theft of land and resources continues as Israel pushes forward its
policy of replacing the Palestinian people with Jewish immigrants from
around the world.
Open Letter to the BBC from Tam Dean Burn
Mark Thompsonm rector general of the BBC
Broadcasting House nPortland Place London W1A 1AA.
Dear Mark Thompson
We, the undersigned actors and directors, like millions of others, are absolutely
appalled at the decision by the BBC to refuse to broadcast the DEC appeal for
Gaza. We therefore are taking what action we can in protest at this decision
by stating, like our fellow actor, Samantha Morton, we will never work for
the BBC again unless this disgraceful decision is reversed. We will urge others
from our profession and beyond to do likewise.
We will also not pay our TV license fee in protest and encourage others to do likewise.
It is time for the people of Britain to take a stand on this issue by demanding the
BBC reverse this decision and by supporting the call from Palestinian
civil society for a complete economic, academic and cultural boycott
of Israel until it ends its pitiless violence against the
long-suffering people of Gaza
and the whole of Palestine .
Tam Dean Burn Pauline GoldsmithPeter Mullan lison Peebles With more than 1,000 Palestinians dead amid Israel's war on Gaza - more than "They [Israeli soldiers] opened fire at us. My son Faris was killed in my arms. I couldn't have children for 21 years after marriage until God gave me this child. A four-year-old girl attacked by an Israeli soldierb "I saw him [the solider] hiding next to the shop. I looked around for my mum, then he shot me. One bullet hit my hand and the other penetrated my stomach through my back." Maysa al-Khitab, a resident of Gaza City "Please help us. The Israelis are bombing us with phosphorus bombs, so please help us. The shelling has been continuous since last night. We are in an area where 500 other families are under bombardment. "Where are the Arabs? Where is the world? None of them are doing anything. "We are being killed. I just saw 300 peoplekilled in front of my own eyes when the tower A father who lost two daughters
"My three daughters went out with my mother. All of a sudden, Israeli soldiers started shouting at them from a very close distance. My eldest was hit by 17 bullets in the chest and my two-year-old was hit by 12. They both died, of course." Khaled Ezzidin, a resident of Deir al-Balah outside of Gaza "I used to live in a city called al-Zahra and, one night, me and my family were hiding in the basement of our house. We came under fire for about two hours and by a miracle we survived the bombardment. The next day we left the city and moved to Deir al-Balah." http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/01/
Gazans' attempts at rescuing trapped bodies were hampered by continued attacks on Sunday [AFP]
Moussa el-Haddad, a doctor at Shifa hospital in Gaza City "We hear screams over the radio from people injured in the streets asking for emergency
Gazans tell of ordeal as war rages
[Gallo/Getty]
300 of them children - Al Jazeera spoketo citizens of the territory struggling
to surivive under the Israeli offensive.
help, but paramedics can't reach them and, besides, the hospitals are overcrowded. Even those killed can't be reached. 'm
telling you, Gaza is on fire. Everyone on this piece of land is under
attack. In this time and age, I can't believe the world is watching
and no one is doing anything. don't understand Ban Ki-moon is making trips from here to there.
Why doesn't he help stop this bloody war?"A
A mother who lost her only son
Elaina Qleibo, the head of food and security for Oxfam
"There is this grave feeling of impotence and I wish I was a doctor or a magician so I can
save all of these people. There is no safe place to say and there is a lack of water, so it's become a very overbearing situation.People
here are sufferring deeply, so much that they are numb, like when you
have an accident, you immediately enter a state of numbness.You see an old man sitting by himself looking like he's about to cry or you'll see a group
of people walking to pretend that nothing is happening.The shock is so big here, I don't know if people realise what is happening to them."
collapsed. Please stop this war."
20091155194386203.html
Though he danced the night away, President Barack Obama has already got down to business. » How? Obama's inaugural dance - videonatch the latest ITN news bulletin
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By Sara Nelson
The upcoming Presidential inauguration of Barack Obama is set to be a worldwide event – and is even being immortalized in LEGO.
The entire scene of the event, which will be held on the West Front of the US Capitol, has been constructed out of the colourful building blocks at Legoland California.
The massive project features more than a thousand mini-figures, including President-elect Barack Obama and his family, vice president-elect Joe Biden, his wife Jill, George and Laura Bush, Dick and Lynn Cheney, and George Bush Sr and Barbara Bush.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1119429/Barack-Obama-sworn-President--Legoland.htmlHamas said it would cease fire immediately along with its Islamist allies in the Gaza Strip and give Israel, which already declared a unilateral truce, a week to pull its troops out of the territory.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in response: "We'll play this day by day. We'll see how this goes. We want to leave Gaza. We'll do so as soon as we can."
Troops and tanks had streamed back over the border since dawn and the army later confirmed it had begun withdrawing after a three-week war in which 10 Israeli soldiers and over 1,300 Palestinians were killed. Three Israeli civilians also died.
Click here for more on this of this story"I can confirm that a gradual withdrawal of our forces is under way," the source said, refusing to elaborate on when the pullback might be completed.
Palestinian militant group Hamas has announced a ceasefire with Israel, giving the Jewish state one week to pull troops out of the Gaza strip.
It comes hours after the Israeli leaders voted to halt the offensive in region that has killed nearly 1,200 people.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said earlier that if a ceasefire held in the Hamas-ruled enclave, Israel could start the process of withdrawing its forces.
A Hamas official in Cairo, Ayman Taha, said: "Hamas and the factions announce a ceasefire in Gaza starting immediately and give Israel a week to withdraw."
The Islamist group said previously it would not stop its attacks as long as Israeli soldiers remained in the Gaza Strip.
Mr Taha said Hamas was demanding the opening of all Gaza border crossings for the entry of "all materials, food, goods and basic needs".
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has touched down in the Middle East for an international summit on the crisis.
International leaders are holding a summit at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh which is to be co-chaired by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Also attending are United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and senior politicians from Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Jordan.
As he arrived in Egypt, Mr Brown announced an additional £20 million of British humanitarian aid and called for renewed efforts to find a lasting peace in the region.
In an apparent criticism of the scale of the Israeli response to Hamas rocket attacks, Mr Brown said "too many" innocent people had died in the 22-day assault on Gaza.
Mr Brown said the violence in Gaza must not halt the search for a path to peace, but should spur the international community on in its efforts to establish a sustainable two-state solution.
"This conflict has once again demonstrated the urgent need to forge a longer term settlement which gives security to both Israelis and Palestinians," he said.
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Barack Obama approached his inauguration as the 44th U.S. president with a mix of solemnity and celebration on