President Elect, Barack Obama given 'Person of the Year' by TIme Magazine

President elect, Barack Obama has been named as this years Time ‘Person of the year’. Mr. Obama was awarded the title after having the confidence to carve a future for a gloomy American public this year in the Presidential elections. The magazine displayed that he showed the American public that he could change the country for the better.
Recent winners have included Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the average American soldier and the online public. Barack Obama has captured the imagination, dedication and belief of so many Americans which is what makes him such a unique person. People from all over the country were watching the American Presidential elections with a close eye and I think I speak for everyone when I say that people were relieved when the republicans were not voted back into office. He hit America with a storm. He has quashed social pecking order and racial in-equality and shattered decades of conventional wisdom.He offered people the choice to take back the responsibility once more when voting for their President.
Mr. Barack Obama has featured in 15 Time covers in total in the past two years which the most for any one individual. His story is truly unique and has captured people’s attention from all over the globe. In 2006 the Time magazine donated the award to everyone who had created online content that year for the internet which was the first time the magazine had awarded the coveted title not a person yet an achievement instead.
The runners up for this year were newly elected French President, Nicholas Sarkozy, Republican vice-president candidate and Alaskan governor Sarah Palin and Zhang Yimou, creative Director of Augusts’ Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing this year. Each of these worthy candidates are more than capable of clinching the title of ‘Person of the year’ yet when you compare their achievements to Barack Obama it really doesn’t seem to be the same. I’m glad Barack Obama won the elections!

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India clamps down on terroism law

The Indian government has only recently announced that it will be stepping up security measures considerably after the catastrophic Mumbai attacks a couple of weeks ago. Interior Minister P Chidambaram said a national investigative agency would now be launched, anti terror laws strengthened and coastal security will undergo a serious clamp down. This is the Indian government’s first real response to what happened recently. The public have been demanding that measures be taken against the militant attack group which left at least 173 people dead, including nine of the 10 gunmen. Indian and US intelligence said that the militants could have come from Pakistan and has since urged the Pakistani government to act upon the militants’ actions. However Pakistan has denied any involvement with the issue yet assures the Indian and US government that they will help with the investigation to find out the people responsible for this un-provoked attack.
The entire situation has been under tremendous pressure from the American government to act upon the attacks in a positive manner. The new Indian security plans were announced on the day a magistrate extended custody of prisoners including the lone surviving gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab until December 24th. “We can not go back to business as usual. We have to take hard decisions and prepare country and people to face the horrifying challenge of terrorism”, Mr Chidambaram told the parliament earlier yesterday.
There were a number of issues addressed in Mr Chidambaram’s speech. A national investigation agency for terrorism would be set up in India along with terrorism laws being strengthened and beefed up. Various military sources had indicated that the Indian Special Forces and security systems had not been updated in years and was in desperate need of repair. Communication between the Indian anti-terrorism groups is weak and their infrastructure to fight terrorism is under-resourced and under-staffed.
The UN Security Council has announced that four leaders of Lashkar-e-taiba to a list of people facing sanctions for possible ties with the Taleban and Al-Qaeda.

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Missouri Legalized Fraud

Once again, Missouri judges have ordered a man to pay thousands of dollars in child support for a child he didn't father. The mother in this case has declared to the court that the man is not the father. Yet a state agency says he is. The state wants to throw this man in jail, and the appeals court agreed. This man and others like him caught in a national issue that pits fairness for men against what is considered best for children.

Every weekday, huge television audiences tune in to the spectacle of a dysfunctional adult and the object of their dysfunction are used in a daytime ratings race. When it comes down to it, these children are the ones who will suffer in the long run. Nothing good comes from the display of a mother testing many men to find out who fathered her baby and forever follow the child.

Many men nationwide are trapped into paying child support because they either are declared such administratively, or do not contest paternity. Unlike the Missouri Legislature several states have changed or are considering changes that allows innocent men to defend themselves with DNA evidence. Many various bills in the House and Senate of Missouri would have allowed that here, but these bills were ignored by the legislature.

In most states, a reputed father can be declared without his knowledge, making the very short time to contest useless. In Missouri and Kansas, that period is one year. Child support must be paid until children either turn 18, or graduate college. Judges follow a legal process clearly designed to disregard who the real father is and require anybody but the real father to provide for the children.  This is tantamount to state sponsored paternity fraud.

If there is a requirement of paternity testing before any requirement of child support a great deal of expense, pain, and family disruption can be avoided.This also gives some women the chance to take responsibility for their actions. No longer will lies hurt so many lives for so long.

And it can be a very long-run.  In one of these cases a Missouri Court found "...is now held to be the father of (the child) for all purposes and all time," , "despite both mother and father's statements to the contrary and without any determination of that relationship by a court of law."

It is unfair that a man has to pay for a child that is not his, regardless of true paternity a husband is still required by law to support the children even if he did not father them.  It is obvious that in Missouri paternity fraud is rampant.

Often we hear about dead beat dads and womens rights.But what about the men who do the right thing and want to be responsible? Where are the rights for these men? Along with mandatory paternity testing their should be a mandatory law stating that the woman should pay back the child support received over how ever long period the time due to the fact that the child/children are not his.

 

India want answers from Pakistan on whereabouts of militant groups

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Pakistan’s armed forces have moved in against a base camp used by banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistani administered Kashmir. Several witnesses heard loud bomb explosions and dozens of army personnel travelling to the area. Helicopters and armoured vehicles were also seen around the scene.
The Indian government has claimed that the group responsible for the Mumbai attacks are operating out of this base camp in the heart of Pakistan. The Pakistan Government is under severe pressure from both the Indian and American Governments to act upon the un-provoked attacks on Mumbai and other regional parts of India.
A number of suspects were arrested however it was not confirmed that anyone arresteted was in direct connection with the terrorist attacks on Indian cities. It was also reported that one of the arrested men was the Laskar-e-Taiba operational chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. The camp, at Shawai on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, is run by the Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, widely seen as a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was itself banned in late 2002.Residents who were in the neighbouring area said that the Pakistan army blew up buildings at the camp which has an office, religious school and residential area housing about 150 people in total. The global press organisation quoted militants as saying that the camp had been seized by the military yet those statements have not been confirmed by the Indian government.
Lashkar-e-Taiba (Soldiers of the Pure) is one of the most feared terror groups fighting against the Indian control of Kashmir. Although various government groups had halted the activities of the terrorist group some time ago it was discovered that none of their base camps or places of operation were closed at all.
All of the attacks on Mumbai and other various cities around India have sparked growing pressure on the Pakistan government to act as quickly as possible to diffuse militant groups from making the same attack again. The assault on various camps in Pakistan will diffuse the tension only temporarily but something has got to be done for the long term as this is quite simply not acceptable.

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Sarah Palin spends over $90,000 on makeup during the elections

So the American elections finally is over, Barak Obama won in case anyone has been on another planet for the last few months! And allthough the press coverage has died down for the moment until he gets sworn in. As for the losers John "you can count on me" McCain and Sarah Palin things seem to be going from bad to worse. It seems that not only did they lose the election by a huge margin they also spent vast ammounts of money on themselves and their family which is causing huge controversy in the America. The Federal Election Commission has been reporting some very interesting financial figures for the 2008 American elections which the American public are sure not to like. It turns out that Sarah Palin spent a little bit to much money making herself look presentable, nearly $100,000 was spent on her hair and makeup through out the election, looking at John McCain around $22 was spent on his! Surely it would have been cheaper to just use clarins makeup or go to Macy's and buy herself a few hundred dollars worth of clarins products, it also turns out that Republican National Committee spent over $150,000 to clothe Sarah Palin and another £18,000 in the final weeks of the election campaign in several department stores, money was also wasted at toys R us, Kate Spade and Brooks Brothers. Over the course of the election McCain and the Republican party had just over $81 million to spend from the federal funds compared to his rival Democratic nominee Obama who had nearly £350 million to spend. Americans who are being hit hard by the world wide economical financial crisis are sure not to be happy about the spending that the 2 parties went through, surely this money could have been put to much better usage.

Oliver Stone starts to think about an Obama biopic?

Could it be that Oliver Stone is even now planning a biopic of Barack Obama? And if so who would he cast in the film?

Well there are plenty of senior elder black american actors.

The top two are probably Sidney Poitier and Morgan Freeman.

Sidney Poitier was born in 1927 . He was the first black actor to win an Oscar for best actor and was also eminent during the race issues of the 1960's.Nowadays he is the Bahamian ambassador to Japan and was awarded the KBE by the English Queen.

Morgan Freeman was born in 1937 and went on to win an Oscar for best supporting actor in Million Dollar baby.He has a very distinctive voice which enables him to do voice overs, for instance in War of the Worlds and March of the Penguins.Freeman has endorsed the Obama campaign.

Younger black actors?

Well there is Cuba Gooding Jnr, who was born in 1968 which makes him 7 years younger than Obama.Like Freeman he has an Oscar for best supporting actor ( Jerry McGuire).

Denzel Washington was born in 1954 and he won an Oscar for best actor in 2001 for his role in Training Day.

 

So this covers possible actors for Obama, but what about McCain?

If he was still alive Charlton Heston springs to mind. Born in 1923 he would be 13 years older than McCain but brings impeccable credentials and a history of playing heroic roles. Originally a democrat he lost faith in that party and became a republican in th 1980's.

From the top actors around now who do we have?

Kevin Costner, born 1955, might be a little young to play McCain and he is an Obama supporter. However he has a history of supporting worthy causes and could probably carry the role well.

Tom Cruise, was born in 1962. He has had huge success in the movie world but his allegiances to Scientology would probably rule him out.

Sean Penn, born 1960, also has a history of supporting radical issues and has been an opponent critic of George W Bush.

 

Kevin Spacey, born 1959, might be able to pull of the role. He has acted in a variety of roles and to la large extent has not be stereotyped by any one role. Unfortunately he is a dedicated democrat so this might well be a challenge for him.

 

So where does that leave Oliver Stone and his plans? Perhaps we can say that it is too early and maybe if and when Obama finishes his second term he will have aged and weathered enough to allow some of our older actors to take on his role?

And when the captains and the kings have departed what will endure from the presidential race? Hope and faith in the future and maybe, just maybe , this president will not get embroiled in a Hollywoodesque term of office.

Written: November 5th on the 1st day of the future for Obama.

Northumberland, United Kingdom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Increase Voter Turnout for More Inclusive Elections

No matter which candidate you support, it’s easy to see that for elections to be truly fair and inclusive, the more eligible voters who cast their ballots the better. Finding ways to increase voter turnout isn’t just a job for politicians and government officials, though. There’s a lot the average person can do to help encourage their fellow citizens to vote.

Empowering voters through education
Many people opt not to vote simply because they feel their vote doesn’t really count or matter much. After all, they think, what difference does one vote really make? Others skip voting because they feel confused by all the political spin and are afraid they may vote for the “wrong” candidate. Feelings like these happen particularly among socially disenfranchised groups such as the low income or under-educated. To combat this, nonpartisan citizens’ education groups host free talks on subjects like voter demographics and where to find non-biased information about the candidates.

Dealing with hopelessness and complacency
While they’re on opposite ends of the emotional scale, these two feelings are related in that both can lead a person to inaction. In barely democratic countries rife with corruption, citizens may not bother voting because they feel none of the candidates will really do anything to improve the situation.

Interestingly, contentment in a healthy democracy and economy can have the same end result on voter turnout. Someone satisfied with all candidates or who believes their country is fine the way it is may not bother to vote simply because they feel it doesn’t make much of a difference who wins.

In both cases, one common way citizens' groups can motivate people to be more politically active is by staging public protests to draw attention to problems and show just how many people want those problems solved.  

“Get the vote out” Calls
This strategy, popular in the U.S., is highly partisan, but effective when most parties participate. Local political campaign groups nearly always have a list of the phone numbers of nearby supporters of their party or candidate. To make sure their supporters don’t forget to vote, they simply call everyone up and remind them of when and where to cast their ballot. Unfortunately, this technique has some logistical challenges for small campaigns because all calls must be made within a day or two of elections, which requires a large number of people working the phones.

Compulsory voting
While some believe compulsory voting is akin to “forcing people to be free,” others see it as the only realistic way to make sure the opinion of every registered voter is heard. Compulsory voting laws are in place in both stable democracies like Australia, Belgium, and Liechtenstein, and in newer democracies like the Philippines and Peru. In most instances, voters who don’t approve of any of the candidates can vote for “none of the above” or simply cast a blank ballot. 

A high voter turnout is essential for a healthy, truly representative democracy, yet all too often citizens in established democracies take the right to vote for granted and don’t bother to use it. Through free educational presentations and simple reminders, though, everyday citizens are able to get at least a few more people out and voting on election day. Every little bit counts!