Tonight those of us in the United States of America witnessed one of the most historic moments of our lifetimes. Barack Obama may not have been your choice for president, in fact just under 49 percent of you did not vote for Obama, but that should not diminish what this means for both our country and the world.

I write this now, before Obama's acceptance speech because this age of technology where information is instant, Facebook allowed us to immediately communicate our excitement or despair of the outcome of this election.

In reading all of these status updates, the nearly even divide of this nation is clear. Those who support our president-elect post words of praise and excitement while those who don't post that they will "flee America before it burns" and how we have "elected a terrorist" and how we will "soon be enslaved" by the Obama Administration.

See a problem here?

No matter whose side you are on; Republican or Democrat, do you honestly feel that the United States of America, a democratic nation revered by most nations on planet Earth would elect someone who would destroy her? Do you really feel you would be better off in any other country?

John McCain gave a good fight for what he believed in. No one disputes that! In his concession speech moments ago, he solemnly congratulated Senator Obama for doing the better job and winning the vote of the people of this nation. He then looked toward the future, telling the understandably disappointed crowd in Phoenix that it is indeed alright to share a moment of disappointment, but that as we continue on in our lives that we all need to come together to find compromises with those we have differences with in order to move our Country in a better direction.

But McCain's words fell on deaf ears. While I can understand the disappointment of half our nation, people around the country have instead declared there is no future for our country, no hope, no dreams, and no chance to pull ourselves out of whatever issues are before us. That you would rather LEAVE this great nation known around the world as a symbol of hope and dreams just because "my choice didn't win" One would hope, and pray, that this is just anger and disappointment talking. For in my lifetime, and your lifetime, we have moved as a country beyond these ideas of partisanship and petty differences.

I am saddened tonight, not by the results of this election, but in the fact that the true colors shown by the next generation of people, my generation of people, are still based on pettiness and in some cases even racism. In the tough times our country will surely face, and are currently facing, it is more important than ever that we come together in common purpose for one thing which we should all agree on: The United States of America.

I for one am looking forward with enthusiasm and anticipation to the future of this nation as I finish school and transition to the "real world". It doesn't matter who won tonight. While one fits my beliefs more and received my vote, I also believe that either man would have done everything in his heart which he thought was best for America. Yet some of you feel that the winner tonight, a black man from Chicago, is out to destroy this nation and that you would leave her before you give the man a chance to do something great for our country.

America will be stronger. America will conquer the challenges before her. The American People will come together and push undivided into the future. And I hope every single one of us wants to be a part of it!

The historians will say, "Our civilization was built from theirs, but we take pleasure for not having to go through that kind of irrationality and infighting that impedes progress. Their history is primitive because they were too slow to learn from the past. They considered things that were insignificant history; the first woman to become president, the first black man to become president, the first black person to go into a house painted white on Pennsylvania Avenue enraged others and so on. Their natural differences had blinded them not to see what was for their universal good. Their blindness made them fight each other and erroneously believed fighting was progress itself. Even though they saw the potential of building their society and making it more prosperous, they were too reluctant to increase their pace because of the prejudices and animosities they harbored".
As time changes, they are the ones who will remain stuck in the past and need a boot to eject them and they are the ones who will slowly progress with the changing times. In a rapidly changing world, our progress should no longer be measured by a movement from point A to B, but by how quickly we realize the benefit from moving from A to B in as short a time as possible.

Primitive communities have remained largely primitive because of their reluctance to challenge their stagnation and their willingness to gloat on the past. They trail because they have endorsed the belief that progress is progress; it does not have to come fast. They have since lagged behind and falsely taken consolation in the thought that no matter how fast they try, change inevitably comes slowly.

Obama's election definitely and psychologically empowers some groups of people who might have been lost in the American dream, or felt it was far-fetched. However, just how long some will remain moaning at their loss and others entranced by their victory for varied reasons will be a true measure of a civilized progress.

For one group of people, history is a stepping stone and a springboard for better things. For another group, history has inevitably become the main impediment to progress. Nothing, but the choices we make now decides which group we will be a part of.

It is our history. Only we can shape it, and should we strive beyond our imaginary boundaries and delusional prejudices our success would be boundless. It is the effort to know what we do not know, the effort to realize our prejudices and the effort to be better that is our only liberation. Then our history will not be told with interjections in social gatherings to evoke laughter, but remembered and emulated for how quickly we were able to learn our hindrances and forged for a better future.

Imagine for a second you live in the backwoods of Mississippi. You don’t get out much. No internet or telephone or newspapers. You’ve written off society a long time ago. After those bastards stole Bush a second election you decided “ah, the hell with it” & stocked up on Pork n Beans, a can opener & some wood for widdlin’. No contact with the outside world. You’re happy as can be. Until one day while widdlin' a nice enough reproduction of FDR you notice you’re all out of pork n beans.

So you finally start the ole truck up n head into town. You’re excited in a Kissin' Cousins kinda way as you haven’t seen or heard from anyone for quite a long time.

When you get to town you realize there’s quite a ruckus going on at Mabel’s Bar & Fish Bait Shop. You walk into find everyone glued to the idiot box watching a man on stage who apparently has been elected President of the United States. You are in shock as well as being dismayed. Mostly bcuz you didn’t realize how much time had passed. But also bcuz you think you recognize the new President standing on stage with his family.

You think you recognize him cuz you used to follow politics somewhat before you retreated into the backwoods but never thought you’d see the day when a politician you actually liked would be elected President of the United states. Someone who was a straight shooter. Who truly represented the voice of the people.

“That’s Joe Biden,” you mutter to no one in particular. You can’t believe it. “They’ve elected Joe Biden as president of the United States !!” You begin to jump up & down for joy as you can barely contain the excitement of seeing a true democrat back in the white house. Not since 1976 & Jimmy carter have you been this excited about the future of this country.

But then you notice something strange.

“Who’s that colored fella on stage with President Biden ?

Is that his driver ?? Are they really that close ? Look he even let the colored fella bring his family out on stage too. Ah, ain’t that sweet … what ? … wait, why is the colored fella gonna give a speech ?? Is he gonna announce Senator Biden to the crowd ?? President Barack Hussein Obama ?? What year is this ? Hot damn !! How long was I gone !!?”

We’ve been colonized !! Run for your lives !!"

The Elephant in the Room

Everyone knows we are up shit creek without a paddle in many regards these days. The Environment, Peak oil (tho know one has the guts to call it by its true name), a failing economy & 2 wars. But isn’t it interesting that no one is mentioning the root cause of all these problems: American Consumerism.

Until we deal with the fact that we have been depleting the earth’s resources at an irreplaceable rate & to the detriment of most of this planet’s inhabitants (U.S. is only 5% of the world’s population but we consume 70% of the world’s resources) the problems we are facing today will never be solved.

I know you can’t exactly get elected president of the United States on a platform of shop less, be more !! But someone at some point needs to say something & force the American people to face that their way life is simply unsustainable. I know… how about the American media ?!?! Oh, yeah, they are all owned by all the very corporations whose profit margins would suffer if we were to face the facts & consume less & recycle more, saving the planet in the process. It seems silly the argument that we make here in a so called “free” nation against places like Cuba & Venezuela where the most powerful people there supposedly control the media … while all along that is exactly what is going on here. Which begs the question: How free are we ?

Can you say ‘conflict of interest’ ??

So unless you want to see mass storage units built for all our remaining “stuff” right next to parking lots for the planet’s last remaining SUV’s on Mount Kilimanjaro since that is how high the waters will have risen thanks to unchecked Global Warming, it is time for a comprehensive plan to move America & the world into this new century by accepting the limitations of a flawed economic system (capitalism) which requires infinite growth while living in a finite world.

Here are some Consumer facts to ponder:

Americans throw away enough office and writing paper annually to build a wall 12 feet high stretching from Los Angeles to New York.

Every day American businesses generate enough paper to circle the Earth 20 times.

The average American household generates 15 pounds of hazardous waste a year. Most of it goes into landfills, sewage treatment plants and septic tanks.

An estimated 1.6 million tons of household hazardous waste exists in the municipal waste stream right now.

American consumers and industry throw away enough aluminum in a year to rebuild our entire airplane commercial fleet every three months.

Recycling one aluminum can saves enough electricity to power a TV or a 100-watt light bulb for three hours.

Here’s the interesting twist to all of this. It would be good for the economy if we did the right thing & recycled materials:

Recycling waste materials supports about six times as many waste-related jobs as there would be if the same materials were treated as trash.

We will not ever fix the problems we face, the environment & the economy,  until we accept this irrefutable fact: The American Way of Life is unsustainable !!  

Rham Emmanuel: Look What the Cat Dragged In

Rham Emmanuel,  has been selected President Obama’s Chief of Staff. This is scary business how many former Clinton aides are finding a home in Obama’s White House (can we call it The Black House now that we finally got some color in there ? ) It doesn’t bode well with the Latino voters either, those who plunked down for Obama at a rate of 66% as Rahm has been no friend to immigrant reform despite representing a diverse constituency there in Illinois (25% Latino). He advised his fellow Democrats to “move to the right” on the issue of immigrant reform in 2006 prior to the elections. And every single Democrat who took his advice & ran scared lost their elections while the majority of those who ignored Rahm won. And with Nancy Pelosi’s recent comments on the topic: “"Maybe there never is a path to citizenship if you came here illegally," Pelosi said. "I would hope that there could be, but maybe there isn't." We’re going to need all the help we can get in an Obama administration since the candidates stayed away from the topic entirely throughout the 2 year long campaign (seemed longer didn‘t it ?).

With at least 12 million undocumented workers (not illegals !!) in this country fueling the economy or what’s left of it we might want to deal with legalizing their existence. Since it is the United States adoption of NAFTA or what I like to call The Exporting Exploitation Act that has made the economy in Mexico even worse than what it already was (the price of tortillas in Mexico have risen 136% under NAFTA ! ).

Besides, if your name ain’t Red Cloud or Sitting Bull or Jose Luis Garcia Rivera then you are all immigrants here. So step to it Obama. I’ll even volunteer myself as a replacement for Emmanuel should your conscience get the best of you.

Another upside to finally providing a path to citizenship & ending the criminalization of 12 million workers: we can finally get Lou Dobbs off the air since that is all he ever talks about.

Obama’s skeletons

A friend & writer, Saab Lofton, who happens to be one of the few people of color who has not fallen in love with Obama provided a partial list of why in one of his last columns (which you can find here: http://www.trews.org/node/1237) I am including the list here in case it ever turns out to be prophetic. I want my friend Saab to receive all the credit he deserves if he turns out to be right about Obama. Here is his indictment of the new President Elect :

You voted for the 2006 version of the Patriot Act.
You voted for the Secure Fence Act, authorizing the construction of a 700 mile wall along the Mexican/American border.
You stated you won't rule out invading Iran.
You stated that you'd enter Pakistan in order to attack al-Qaeda even without Pakistani approval.
You actually praised Ronald (SIX letters) Wilson (SIX letters) Reagan (SIX letters)!!!

I do agree with that last one. If ever there were a Son of a Bitch in American politics outside of Dubya it was Ronnie Reagan. Bob Avakian has dubbed Reagan “that Vampire Motherfucker” !! If the name fits ….

The Iran & Pakistani comments do honestly alarm me mucho. Tho personally, I think Obama knows that in order to get elected in this country he had to talk tough on matters of National Security. Or the Wolves of Deceit would have torn him apart. This also, I hope, explains his policy of support for that Red Headed Step Child of the middle east Israel which anyone who reads or has a conscience must disagree with. But no candidate in his right mind would talk soft on Military might or go against the longstanding U.S. policy of support for Israel. At least when trying to get elected. Now that he is office, maybe Palestine can get some love as it is only the right thing to do. Every activist knows that much. Hopefully Obama as a former Organizer knows it too. (Heavens to Betsie not the dreaded “O” word !!)

Sen. Ted Stevens' election defeat marks the end of an era

I’ve never had any respect for the Republican voter for obvious reasons but if this don’t just say it all. Sen. Ted Stevens from Alaska was the 1^st convicted felon to seek election ... Yet He only lost by 3,000 votes !! What has to happen for that unthinking portion of America to get its head out of its ass ?? Clinton was practically crucified for cheating on his wife which isn’t even illegal & is also none of our business. But Stevens IS convicted of a crime for accepting a bribe & then lying about it & he still almost wins !! Those voters should have their right to vote taken away until they prove they can read & pass a written test. These are the patriotic, sanctity of marriage people. The states’ rights, proud to be an american people who spout their greatest country on earth bullshit to the tune of 40 million dead & "I'll suck your dick for a barrel of oil."

“Hey Mabel , they say Sen. Stevens is a convicted felon who lied to save his ass & keep from reporting $250,000 in gifts from an oil company which probably affected the way he voted .. Should we still vote for him ?

“Sure, why not. We can‘t vote for the other guy. He might be a Socialist.”

A New Day in America

So America has elected the first President of African descent.

Yay for us.

Now what ?

Do we go back to playing video games & watching inordinate amounts of television in order to inebriate ourselves from the gnawing feeling that we know there is still more work to be done ?? And I don’t mean by Obama but by us.  

Or do we continue to participate in this democracy ? Obama will need the will of the people on his side when he goes to enact this change he has promised us in his campaign these past months. He isn’t going to do it all alone. He ain’t no Shaft & this ain’t no Hollywood Movie.

We all need to continue to place pressure on members of Congress to make the change we want to see become a reality. We need to organize at the local level. Think globally & act locally. Hold meetings & protests & sign petitions. Basically light a fire under the asses of our elected officials & get them to represent ‘we the people’ instead of ‘they the millionaires’.

Fellow Americans, our future is in our own hands.

These figures is a new record and broke the previous record of $413bn set in fiscal 2004, which was the fall out of tax cuts and massive spending on Iraq wars.

The Treasury's recent plan to spend $250 bn to buy preferred stock in financial institutions is a kind of cash outlay and will add to the budget deficit. But the program and expanded Federal Reserve lending operations also could produce some revenue gains.

The United States is not without their submarine tragedies. In the 1960's the US suffered the loss of the USS Scorpion (most likely due to a hot run from a torpedo) and the Loss of the USS Thresher (due to condensation build up in the high pressure blow system). In the 1980s the US almost lost the USS Bonefish (an old Diesel boat that had a battery fire, very dangerous and I had friends on the boat). There was the USS Greenville that hit and sunk a Japanese training boat off of Hawaii. There was also the USS Ashville that hit an underwater sea mount and killed a young sailor. It was a miracle that the US didn't lose the USS Ashville, these submarine sailors kept the sub afloat even though the forward ballast tanks could not hold air.

The Russian navy has experienced their submarine tragedies. In the mid 1980s a Yankee class submarine had a missile explosion off the coast of North Carolina and sunk while being towed back to Russia. The Oscar II class submarine sunk in the Barents Sea while doing naval exercises, killing everyone onboard. And recently the Akula II class mishap in the Sea of Japan.

A submarine is a very dangerous place. This danger is not from the Nuclear reactor either. The danger is from the very nature of what a submarine does and what it has to accomplish in a combined space. For instance the number one cause of fires on a submarine is from the clothes dryer! This is due to the fact that a submarine has a closed ventilation system with no way to expel the lint from the dryer. Therefore if sailors do not continuously clean the dryer lint from the filters, it will heat up and catch fire. The refrigeration plants require Freon gas (just like your refrigerator) if Freon leaks, it displaces oxygen, if this is undetected, people can suffocate. The fuel required to run a torpedo must be self oxygenating, it if ignites (very rare) it produces hydrogen cyanide gas. If seawater gets in the battery compartment the battery will also produce hydrogen cyanide gas. Submariners are fully aware of these dangers and we train continuously on them.

In my opinion some of the troubles the Russian navy has experienced are due to the Cold War and not sharing technology or information on mishaps. For instance the missile explosion that occurred on the Yankee submarine was due to design of liquid rocket propellant mixing. When the two liquids are separated, it works fine, but as the missiles age and rust occurs, the two liquids might mix. NATO countries learned this and stopped using liquid rocket propellants in the 1960s. The Kursk explosion in the Barents is rumored to have occurred due to the Russians testing a hydrogen peroxide torpedo. The hydrogen peroxide exploded causing the submarine to sink. In the 1960s the British had an explosion like this causing a submarine to violently explode pier side. Due to this explosion NATO countries stop using hydrogen peroxide.

As for the Akula II fire extinguishing system, it is still unclear about what was contained in the automatic fire extinguishing system. This submarine's keel was laid down in 1991 meaning that the design occurred during the Cold War. Moreover Akula II submarines first appeared in the late 1980s. I do not want to believe that the Russian Navy would use Freon and not Halon to put out a fire. However, due to some systems like high pressure hydraulics, Freon and not Halon might have been the designed gas. It is more believable that there was a small fire in the machinery compartment that caused the seals on the refrigeration plant to leak Freon. It is time for us to share experiences and technologies.

Submariners have learned a long time ago to never trust any' automatic' system, nothing beats human reaction and human decision making to stop a fire and defend the ship.

Kenney said based on Obama’s speech after his election last Tuesday, the President-elect has shown his “global outlook” and promised to “reach out” to America ’s friends around the world, including the Philippines .

As a British citizen, I’ve endured constant jabs about how our prime ministers, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are nothing more than puppets to America. These attacks are made all the more wounding by the fact that they have been for the most part, true. So what does an Obama victory mean for the people of Britain? Come to think of it what does it mean for the rest of the world? America is unlike any other country, the decisions it makes have massive, far reaching consequences, be they military, financial, or social. Can Obama balance the needs of the world with the needs of his own country? Time will tell. One thing’s for sure though- he can’t do much worse than his predecessor.

Change. It’s time for change, change is coming- the word change seems to be Obama’s motto. Can he change the system? Can he shift American politics into a more unified state? Does Obama have the force of will, the knowledge and the sheer charisma to unite a nation that has been heavily divided under the reign of George Bush, a man who has proven about as popular as a bottle of BBQ sauce in the three little pig’s house? Can he achieve this goal he’s set out to do? Unifying millions of Americans under one political idea, not democrat but American. Can he balance policies from all over the nation? Can he create a unified front? These are massive changes he wants to bring around, and a system as old and set as the American political process will not respond well to change.  As the first black president of America, he’s achieved a great thing and demonstrated that as a nation, America is marching on to racial acceptance.

But despite what Obama and McCain both said in their closing speeches, racism and bigotry still exist in America and in the world at large- on an uncomfortable scale. White supremacists are going to want to take a shot at Obama, possibly literally. Can he stand up to this the same way that other great black men and women have before him? Possibly an even bigger concern is racism within the American political system itself. How will senators and other politicians respond to a black man in the ultimate seat of power? For all his strength of personality, his knowledge and his backing by the American people, if key figures decide they don’t like him, Mr Obama will have a hard enough time running the country, let alone bringing about the change he desperately seeks.

How about a second term? One thing is for certain, Obama is not going to be able to sort out America this time around. The nation is so divided, the financial crisis so deep that untangling the mess will take many years. Will people believe in him enough to give him a second term in office, a term that will almost certainly be needed to see his plans through to fruition? Or will they feel he is doing too little and demand quick patch solutions? We can only hope they realise that he is on the right track, and that quick fix solutions will only lead to more trouble further down the line.

If anyone can do it Mr Obama, I’m sure it’s you. Likewise I’m certain that you are under no illusion about the enormity of the task you have set for yourself. I respect your goals though, this change needs to occur. I wish you the very best of luck, you’re going to need it.

 However, my concern is how he is going to handle the United States government once elected today being 4th of November 2008. I have no misgiving that he will do alright; however, I am perturbed by the pressure at the White house. I am concerned about too much Bureacracy put together makes a hell chain of headache for a young man of his type. Some people feel that he promotes socialist agenda while Mcain thinks he's more of a liberal than any one in the United states. United states democracy is built upon liberal principles of liberty, freedom, civil rights, rule of law and other democratic theories. Hence, calling him a liberal is not a problem as result of core values stated by the fathers of US constitution.

 Meanwhile, so many people have had some paradox or what i may call stupid prophesy that he will be killed once he becomes the president of United States of America in 2008. Though, this hypothesis seemed to have been proved very recently by the two American skin heads between the ages of 18 and 20 years who tried to eliminate him and more than 200 black people listed in their agenda. My premise is that," why would some one try to do? why is it that none of these premise occured during Goege W. Bush era of government with all the sins he committed against America."Sins that have caused tremendous economic havoc presently in stock decay and degeneration to almost 90% since the last depression in the 30's; Sins that have caused American peopl loose jobs, mortgage, loss soldiers more than 5000 people in Iraq; Sins that has caused bad international relations among neighbors and continents/countries".

 Meanwhile, my point is that," Barack Obama will leave to enjoy his hard work for the next generation. its going to be tough on him to carry on or work against bad policies of George bush for the next 5 years, but with the support of the people whom he has vehemently encouraged to follow him  to the white house, with his believe in God and the people he's working with, nothing ever will happen to him. However, my advice is that he has to take his human and physical security very serious and not be so liberal to forget himself at the whitehouse.

Most people know the story of Troopergate by now. If not, you can use the previous link to learn more about it. In short, Palin is alleged to have fired a police commissioner because he would not fire an officer, who was in a custody battle with Palin's sister. If this is true, it would prove to be a major abuse of power on Palin's part. If she is capable of doing this without so much as a guilty conscience at state level, it is a worrying thought to consider what she might be capable of at presidential level.

Barack Obama's lack of experience has been mentioned on dozens of occasions by the McCain campaign, but if anything has been learned from Obama's campaign, it is that the man sure knows how to mastermind and control one hell of an organisation. Obama may have only been a Senator since January 2005, but he has more experience as a Senator than Palin has as even a Governor. Palin hasn't even been a Senator. She knows next to nothing about anything outside her state. The thought of a "hockey mom" becoming Vice President (and quite possibly President as a result of McCain's age) is a truly horrifying thought.

Palin has next to no foreign experience. She has only visited 3 countries, or so she claims. These are Kuwait, Germany and Ireland. Her visit to Ireland consisted of a stopover at Shannon Airport. Combine that with the fact that she thinks living near Russia counts as knowledge of future foreign policy and you've got someone who seems to know nothing about anywhere other than her own country, possibly even only her own state.