With the Presidential elections just around the corner, Americans are faced with the dilemma of Obama or McCain.

In the 2007 Federal elections, Australia was faced with Howard or Rudd and now Australia is living the nightmare. 

 As an Australian, I have been watching the trends and what's going on and what isn't. In my mind I believe that what seems to good to be true, you can bet your bottom dollar it's not.

If I were casting my vote it would be for McCain even though he has as much appeal to me as Obama which is - none!

Neither one of them  in my humble opinion is worthy of the Presidency, and as an Aussie Observer it's a case of "Better the devil you know than the one you don't".

Any how, that's what I think.

 

Kevin Rudd

As for Australia, part of our nightmare is this. With the current world financial crisis, two of our largest investment companies Perpetual and AxaAsiaPacific, have frozen $5.5 billion of investors' money to prevent them from cashing out and putting their funds else where.

 This is wrong. No one has the right to stop anyone from having access to their hard earned money.

This is the same as stealing! And guess what? The Rudd government did nothing to prevent this from happening.

There are many here now who regret casting their vote for Rudd, and many safe to say would be investors!

Magnetic Island - Townsville   

Cooktown, named after famous British explorer Captain James Cook and the Endeavour River named after his ship, is where two weeks ago Mr. Arthur Booker disappeared while checking his crab pots for the last time before heading home to Brisbane when tragedy struck. Unfortunately it was the last time for anything for Mr.Booker.

A crocodile attack was suspected and the hunt was on.

Traps were set and eventually three crocodiles were caught. Human remains were  found in one of them. DNA tests confirmed that they belonged to Vietnam veteran Mr.Booker.

There are calls for the culling of crocodiles but environmentalists do not agree on this course of action.

It has been decided according to news paper reports that all three crocodiles will not be destroyed. They will be re-located to crocodile farms in the region.

Crocodiles are a protected species in Australia.

To cull or not to cull has become a major issue here as more and more sightings are reported, the latest being at Magnetic Island, a popular tourist destination in Queensland.

Tajikistan has many health problems including HIV/AIDS. Less that 100 people live with AIDS, less than 100 died from HIV/AIDS. Not many people have HIV/AIDS because they live in small villages and don't have a big population. At birth there are 1.05 males per female total which, there 1.02 males per females that are under 15 years old, there are .99 males are born per females are in the 15-64 yr old group, and .75 males per female are over 65 yrs which mean that there are more males at birth than females then the males start to die more as they get older. Males are dying because Tajikistan has low medical care and doesn't have many resources.

The life of a child in Tajikistan is very hard. 38.5% of the people in Tajikistan are 0-14 years old. 56.7% of the people are 15-64 years old and 4.8 % of the people are 65 years and older. 99.6% males and 99.1% female know how to read and write. Many of the females have a hard life because 99.11 females die per 1000 people as infants. The life of a male is even harder because 124.47 males die as infants per 1000 people. The death rates are 8.39 deaths per 1000 people and the total birth rates are 32.58 births per 1000 people. The total population in Tajikistan is 7,163,506 people which is a lot of people for a small country. The population growth is 2.15% which is not at all good because the net migration rate is -2.86%, which means people .15% of the people are leaving Tajikistan because the country is poor and doesn't have many resources.

There are many cultures and religions in Tajikistan. For example, 80% of the population are Sunni Muslims, 5% are Shi'a Muslims, 15% are different or no religions. The major ethnic group Tajikistan is the Tajiks which is 65% of the ethnic groups. 25% of the ethnic groups are Uzbeks, 3.5% of the ethnic groups are Russian, and 6.6% are the unimportant and small ethnic groups in Tajikistan. The language in Tajikistan is Tajik and Russian which is mostly used for business. The nationality in Tajikistan is Tajikistani.

In a little less than two years, the Philippines will elect a new set of national leaders when the current term of the incumbent President Gloria Arroyo ends in 2010. All indications point to the inevitable contest of young political personalities with their burning desire to transform the Philippines from one of the poorest countries in Asia into a progressive and developed country in this part of the world.

Because of their relative popularity gained from their early exposure in politics, they seem to have some added advantage over their seasoned political rivals who are either in their senior years or have been branded by the electorate as traditional politicians.

A few of these emerging young leaders who have excelled in lawmaking and governance are featured in a series of articles about the emerging young leaders of the Philippines.

Francis (Chiz) Escudero

38 years old

Senator, Republic of the Philippines

Francis Escudero or “Chiz” to family and friends, started in politics as a youthful Congressman of the first district of Sorsogon, a progressive province located south of Manila. The congressional seat was somehow passed on to him by his father, the former Secretary of Agriculture, Salvador Escudero. Though he did campaign very hard to win, it is believed that his father was very instrumental in his election as Congressman of his district. He was 28 years old when he got elected into office in 1998. For more than 10 years, he has continuously climbed up the political ladder capitalizing on his father's own political clout in the province. His first election to congress marked the beginning of his colorful political career. He was elected as Assistant Majority Floor Leader of the 11th congress and eventually assumed the position of Second Deputy Majority Floor Leader. He later served as the Minority Floor Leader during his last term as congressman.

Congressman Escudero served congress for three consecutive terms ending in 2007 when his last term expired. He then run as an opposition candidate for a seat in the senate that saw him topping the list of winners, second only to Senator Loren Legarda, who ranked first with more than 18 million votes. He is presently the chairman of the justice and ways and means committee.

Senator Escudero is a talented young man. He studied at the University of the Philippines and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science. After graduation, he enrolled at the UP College of Law and in 1993 he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He later took the bar examinations and passed. He then enrolled at Georgetown University in USA and graduated with a Masters degree in International and Comparative Law.

After finishing law, he became an Associate of Bautista, Picazzo, Buyco, Tan and Fider Law Offices. Later he acted as consultant for some private entities and non-government organizations. Presently he serves as Partner of the Escudero, Marasigan, Sta. Ana, Valiente and Villareal Law Offices.

Chiz is rumored to be running for President of the Philippines in the 2010 presidential elections. He will be 40 years old by then and if he is elected, he will become youngest president the country will ever have. It would seem that Chiz will satisfy the Constitutional provision of the Philippine constitution which provides that a candidate for Philippine presidency must at least be 40 years old at the time of his election to that office.

Loren Legarda

48 years old

Senator, Republic of the Philippines

Loren Legarda was born on January 28, 1960. She is the daughter of Antonio Cabrera Legarda of Manila and San Pablo City and Bessie Bautista of Manila and Antique. Her Grandfather is Jose Bautista, former Editor of Manila Times. Loren completed her grade school and secondary education at Assumption Convent where she graduated Valedictorian. She later enrolled at the University of the Philippines, took up Broadcast Communications and graduated cum laude.

Loren started her journalism career when she joined RPN Channel 9 as a news reporter. While working, Loren was studying at the same time. She enrolled at the National Defense College of the Philippines where she obtained a Masters Degree in National Security Administration, emerging as the topnotcher of her class. She is a Lt. Colonel in the Armed Forces of the Philippines reserved force.

Loren Legarda's journalism career reached its peak when she moved to ABS-CBN as news anchor for “The World Tonight”, a nightly news program. She also hosted a TV News Magazine entitled, “The Inside Story”, an investigative weekly newsmagazine series. This program brought Loren to the hinterlands and remote areas of the country.

Loren's career in broadcast journalism earned for her countless awards including the Benigno Aquino Award for Journalism. Some of the major awards that she received include; the Catholic Mass Media Hall of Fame Award, TOWNS award for excellence in media, among others.

Loren Legarda's political career started when she joined the 1998 senatorial contest and won convincingly garnering about 15 million votes and becoming the youngest woman senator of the country. Since her election to the Senate, she worked very hard for the enactment of some of the most significant laws of the country. These laws were mostly directed to the preservation of the environment, government procurement reforms, wildlife protection and conservation, trade and domestic concerns. Her track records in lawmaking is remarkable as evidenced by the multifarious bills that she filed, some of which have already been enacted into law. Outside of her lawmaking mandate, she has managed to capitalize on her being a popular media personality in promoting peace among the warring factions of Philippine society.

In the 2004 national election, Loren ran as Vice-President of the Philippines as the running mate of Fernando Poe, Jr. Many believed that she won that election and she, in fact, filed an election protest in the electoral tribunal to validate her claim as the elected Vice-President of the country. Various significant events have overtaken the election protest until the next senatorial election came. And so in 2007, she decided to run again for another term in the senate and won. She in fact emerged as the topnotcher with over 18 million votes.

With Loren's enviable credential in broadcast journalism, lawmaking and governance, many of her constituents and followers believe that she is destined to embrace a new role in Philippine politics in the very near future. This early, a public opinion poll has been conducted on a nationwide scale and the result indicated that the tandem of Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero is unbeatable if elections were held today. Depending on the political developments between now and 2010, the Loren-Francis team -up (or Francis-Loren?) seems to be a sure bet.

When Senator Benigno Aquino of the Philippines was living in exile in the United States during his bitter political fight with the then President Ferdinand Marcos, he declared to the international community and to the millions of his followers in his own country and all over the world that indeed the Filipino is worth dying for. True enough, Ninoy, as he was fondly called by most Filipinos, gave his own life for the sake of his country and people. In his fight for freedom and democracy, Ninoy is loved and remembered today by all peace loving Filipinos who enjoy freedom and democracy that Ninoy paid dearly with his own life.

Anwar Ibrahim seems to replicate the life and political career of Ninoy. Because of Anwar's perceived human rights advocacy and his pro democratic stance, he earned the ire of his political mentors who tend to trample on the rights of its citizens in order to advance their own political agenda and perpetuate themselves in power.

For his youth, vigor and idealism and his adherence to the democratic processes and institutions of democracy, he paid dearly for his noble stance. At the height of his political career, he was herded by the Malaysian police into prison on trumped up charges of graft and corruption and sodomy that were apparently concocted to justify his continued detention, thereby isolating him from his constituents and supporters. He was then the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia.

It is a common knowledge in Malaysia and in the international community that Anwar is a political detainee rather than a criminal prisoner. Obviously his being kept in prison until lately would somehow make the political heat to subside, with Anwar's inability to communicate his thoughts and ideology to his own constituents and political supporters which are mostly made up of young and freedom loving citizens of Malaysia.

Anwar Ibrahim's meteoric rise to political supremacy in Malaysia's politics may be traced to his youth and idealism. Anwar was born on August 10, 1947 and received his early education in his hometown before gaining admission to the prestigious Malay College in Kuala Kangsar. He continued his studies at the University of Malaya for his college degree. While in college he witnessed and eventually joined the street riots denouncing graft and corruption in government, and the issue of poverty in the marginalized sector of the Malaysian society. In recognition of his leadership, he was appointed into the advisory group of the youth affairs in 1973. His involvement in youth affairs and his concern for the poor farmers of rural Malaysia have endeared him to the youth as well as the elder electorate of the country. This was the beginning of his meteoric political career.

In government, Anwar was invited to join the ruling political party, the UMNO by Prime Minister Mahatir Mohammad. He was elected in 1984 and since then he held various cabinet positions such as Minister of Youth, Agriculture, Education and Finance. He eventually became the Deputy Prime Minister. In 1997, he served as the Acting Prime Minister when Mahatir asked him to lead the country in his absence.

What endeared Anwar Ibrahim to the people of Malaysia was his unrelenting campaigns to minimize if not eradicate the occurrence of graft and corruption in government. He made commitments to the ideals of empowerment, justice and equity for all. His contribution to the Malaysian economy was hailed by international financial institutions, citing his achievements in leading Malaysia into continued prosperity and economic growth.

When Prime Minister Mahatir fired him as Deputy Prime Minister, his subsequent trial and conviction on what was believed to be trumped up charges, was widely disputed by the international community. Many world leaders called for his release from prison, citing a pattern of political manipulation.

After his painful experiences in solitary confinement and for having been treated as a hard core criminal while in prison despite his having served as the second highest ranked official in the land. Anwar continues his journey in politics and governance with a noble intention to serve his people especially the poor and marginalized sector of Malaysian society.

What is in store for Anwar Ibrahim? I believe that Anwar will one day lead the people of Malaysia in their journey to peace and prosperity as their Prime Minister. It is possible that Anwar will get elected into the political mainstream by his own constituents which his wife Dr. Azizah have served as their leader and representative while Anwar was in solitary confinement.

It is a huge metropolis of ports and large skyscrapers. Shanghai didn't start off this big. It first was a small fishing village in east China. Today Shanghai is known to be the largest city in China, fourth largest in the world, and also the busiest, largest port in the world.

Not only was Shanghai a seaport to trade goods, but also ideas and culture. Shanghai gave most of China its new modern culture, but also help develop the Chinese movie industry and technological advancements. Shanghai was the first city in China to use the first motor car and even the first complex sewer system. The movie industry in Shanghai was at it prime from pre-WWII until the end of WWII, because soon Hong Kong would have a rapid growth in movies.

Shanghai provides China money and even modern culture. It is probably the most important city in all east China. With 18,670,000 as there population ( 7,617 per mi.)

Shanghai is known for its industry and shipping. Shanghai's first factory was invested in by the Japanese which was followed by several other foreign investments. These nations saw the importance the potential this small port had in the future. However even with all thee investments, in the ninetieth century, it was not regarded as one of China's major seaports. Not being important in the ninetieth century there weren't any ancient Chinese monuments or temples.

When the Nazi's were prosecuting the Jewish people they had fled everywhere. Shanghai was one of the only cities that allowed Jews and would help them. They would help the Jews find jobs , and a place to live. Judaism was in that time period the largest in the city. Toda, however, it is a mix of many religions such as the Catholic faith, the Muslim faith, and Buddhism.

 

Currently, 69% of the nation's electricity needs are supplied through coal but this is inefficient because of India's recent growth. In 2002, India has to supply 534 billion kilowatt hours of electricity - a figure that is 2 times the amount India produced in the 90s. According to International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) nuclear analyst Alan McDonald, “China and India have booming economies, booming populations, growing energy demand. They basically need to develop all the energy sources they can. Right now, nuclear electricity is only a small percentage, 2% in China, 3% of electricity in India. But China plans a five-fold increase by 2020 and India plans an eight-fold increase by 2022.” That means India wants to see its nuclear powered reactors provide 25% of the countries rising energy needs in the foreseeable future.

In 1995, India build 9 operating nuclear power plants with a total power capacity of 1,800 Megawatts or 3% of India's power output. And during the late 90s, India had 7 more nuclear plants under construction which has the potential to bring 2,320 megawatts of energy. India also has plans for 10 other reactors to be established mostly in northern parts of India and 1 reactor in Tamil Nadu. Such a system will bring in more than 5000 megawatts energy to a starved power system. In the 90s, India wanted to increase its power capacity to 10,000 Megawatts by 2000 and this goal has been met. Currently, India has over 15 small reactors, 2 medium sized reactors, 6 still under construction which includes 2 large reactors and a fast breeding reactor. India also has plans to expand its capacity further to a goal of 20,000 Megawatts energy by 2020. However, this goal can only be met if the international community allows India to import Uranium from other nations because Thorium reaction cycle cannot sustain such a high-yield reaction rate for too long.

For this India needs Uranium and since 1995, India has been importing small amounts of Uranium from China even though China is not supposed to sell India uranium under the NPT agreement. India has the largest Thorium reserves in the world and is the only nation with a nuclear reactor program designed for a thorium based cycle so even if international help with uranium is not given, India can use its own technology and fuel for quite a long time. However, if India were allowed to get large amounts of Uranium, I am sure the nuclear power capacity and output would sky-rocket. Other nuclear powers in Asia do not have the amount of nuclear reactors or power production like India. Even Pakistan only has 2 reactors compared to India's arsenal of nuclear reactors. China comes in 2nd with regards to nuclear energy production and amount of nuclear reactors in the nation. Then Japan and South Korea. Overall, Asia is the next biggest field for nuclear reactor technology and their development as these nations are faced with growing energy crisis and a bursting population starving for energy.

This vehicle was not enough to protect her life as fate had it. She rose above from the sunroof to wave to the waiting eyes of her supporters, this was enough for the murderer to be able to shoot her in the neck. Reports say that the killer fired between 3 and 5 bullets from a pistol (as shown on GEO), one of them is said to have hit her in the neck. She fell inside the car with her last word being “Allah” (according to Sherry Rehman). She was taken urgently to the Hospital and accounced dead at 6.16pm (Pakistani time).

The future of Pakistan now looks ever more shaky. A key opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has announced that his party would boycott any elections (which are due to be held on 8th January 2008), but the US President has said that Pakistan should continue its path towards total democracy.

Will the elections be held now that the assassination of Mrs Bhutto has taken place? Or will the death of the 54 year old politician be enough to stop the general elections and the resignation of the current President? And who was behind the killing of the former Prime Minister? Many questions such as these are still to be asked, though not so easy to answer. Only time will answer these questions. All we can say today just hours after the death of Mrs Bhutto is may she rest in peace.