Barack Obama's Early Years in Indonesia

The current President and Nobel Prize Winner, spent his some of his childhood years in Indonesia, after his Mother married Lolo Soentoro, an Indonesian citizen and moved to Jakarta- the capital of Indonesia. Lolo met her at University in the United States. He ended up becoming an Executive of an Oil Company.

There would have been few expatriates in Indonesia. Jakarta, would of resembled a poorer Indian City,- rather than a more modern city, it is today. The Obama family lived in one of Jakarta's more exclusive areas- Menteng. Barack Obama's mother working as a secretary for the US Embassy, around 30 minutes drive from the Menteng area.

Education in Indonesia for a child of an expatriate would have been restrictive ; International Education was first introduced for expatriates only in the 1980's, and then opened up for Indonesians later in the mid to late 1990's.

Choosing a school for young Barack would have been obvious, and as wealthy Indonesians traditionally believed Catholic Schools provided the best education. He attended two exclusive private Catholic Schools in the Menteng area.

His classmates fondly called him 'Barry," many may have been Moslems, but in a Country where it was illegal at the time not to state you have a religion. Many classmates could have been Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Catholic- common in many schools in the USA, today.

Many of his classmates stated that "Barry" was known to tease girls, and was very studious. He even studied at night- a VOA correspondence course, in the pre-internet age. He also once broke a bamboo school fence. But he was evidently well liked at School.

Critics and supporters often confuse the Indonesia today, with the Indonesia, when Barack Obama lived there as a child. It was politically a dictatorship, but with the active support of the USA, and Western Europe. But back then Democracies as we know them today- were extremely rare in South-East Asia.

Barack Obama's Indonesian experience, has been portrayed in a negative light by some, but they choose to ignore or understand what Indonesia was like during the time of Obama's childhood. And more importantly what skill's he may of developed, because of this early exposure to a very different World, to the States.

Learning to get along with others, understanding different cultures, and creating a common goal that is easily understood- Important International Leadership skills in todays complicated World. And perhaps Barack Obama's early Indonesian years, helped put him on the long, and improbable road leading to his Presidency.

Discover the City of Dreams Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Medley http://www.pippoproducts.com/products

Under Three Empires - The Thorns and Roses of a Life by Izyaslav Darakhovskiy

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Darakhovskiy in the gift shop at the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC where he was signing copies of his book. I spoke to him for a few minutes and felt that he was a warm and personable man. He had a friendly and affable demeanor.

I thought his book would be a biography of his life under Nazi German, then Communist USSR and finally the United States. But it was more of a social commentary on life under those three empires.

It would seem logical that someone exposed to oppression under the Nazis and Communism would be bitter and jaded. That is not the case with Dr. Darakhovskiy. He gives an even-handed and mostly impartial glimpse into the political and social environments under the evil empires. One can forgive Dr. Darakhovskiy when he tends to step up onto his soap box, since even then he shows great restraint and professionalism when discussing the events that took the lives of his mother, sister and many other family members during the Holocaust. These horrendous events would try anyone's ability to persevere and move forward.

He paints a candid and interesting view of Americans when he covers his immigration to this country. He received a great cultural shock when realizing an American's obsession with wealth and how it clearly defined one class of people from another. Coming from a country where salaries were determined by a government scale to a country of free enterprise, Dr. Darakhovskiy found the disparity of the distribution of wealth to be almost incomprehensible.

Even this did not cloud Dr. Darakhovskiy's views of the United States. He talks for many pages on the wonderful Americans he met after settling in Rochester, NY who helped him adjust to a culture and a country that were vastly different from anything he had seen before and beyond his wildest imagination.

He wrote about the frustration and barriers to getting employed and the typical responses from potential employers he dubbed as "masterpieces of bureaucratic writing." But many people can attest that these remarks are not reserved for immigrants. We've all heard these same statements.

The only fault I found with the book was the editing. Dr. Darakhovskiy should consider another publisher for his next work. I have never read a book with so many spelling and grammatical errors. I understand that the editor may have wanted to keep Dr. Darakhovskiy's own words pure, but as he doesn't have a firm grasp on the American language, grammar and proper word usage are more important to the reader than verbatim. Some sentences just did not make sense, and this is where an editor can give us at least an idea of Dr. Darakhovskiy's message.

I'm glad to have met Dr. Darakhovskiy and read his book. It is a pleasure to read and if you're not careful, you might learn something. It is a must-read for scholars or anyone interested in the Holocaust or Eastern Europe and Russia.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alan_G._Scott Under Three Empires: The Thorns and Roses of a Life http://www.pippoproducts.com/products

Historic Democrat Foreign Policy Incompetency Part II - Presidents Carter, Clinton, and Obama

The Russians smelled weakness when President Carter talked about pulling troops out of South Korea. Carter signed away the Panama Canal during his presidency. Today, a Chinese company controls both ends of that Canal; Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., is a company associated with the Chinese Army.

Both the U.S. Military and the CIA saw serious cuts under the Carter Administration.

Losing Iran was one of his biggest blunders. President Carter withdrew U.S. support for Iran, allowing its pro Western government to fall. Iran's army hemorrhaged quality members; and the Iranian government was in disarray. Saddam saw an opportunity to settle long term disputes--assuming that Iraq would have the upper hand.

This resulted in the Iran Iraq War.

The new Iranian government supported terrorists in Lebanon; this included the terrorists that bombed the Marine barracks there. Today, we're dealing with an Iran supporting terrorism in Lebanon, Israel and Iraq. Iran later forged full steam ahead with its nuclear ambition.

Enter President Clinton. Important missile related technology got transferred to the Chinese under his administration.

President Clinton lifted certain restrictions so that Hughes Space and Communications could export technology to China. In exchange for Clinton's lifting these restrictions, Hughes' CEO continued to provide donations to the Democratic Party.

Prior to these transfers, Chinese missiles were unreliable, and prone to detonate shortly after launch. After these transfers, Chinese missiles were capable of striking a U.S. city with accuracy.

Spinoffs from missile technology can be transferred to the space program.

We're talking precision and guidance systems that could guide a missile to its target, or guide a lunar lander to the moon's surface. With the U.S. space program having setbacks, there's a real possibility that the Chinese could land a manned expedition on the moon before the U.S. returns there.

Should this happen, they'll be ahead of the United States when it comes to lunar exploration; and with operating a lunar base.

During his campaign, Barrack Obama argued that he'd reduce nuclear weapons, won't weaponize space, and that he'd cut missile defense. Both the Chinese and Russians are developing military and commercial space technology. Both countries are working hard to be able to eliminate our space advantage. They know that if they do that, they'll have a strategic upper hand over us. Obama's plans calls for us to stand in place while our strategic opponents blast right past us with weaponizing space.

Travis is a freelance writer that specializes in information market, political writing, fundraising and communications. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Travis_Hill

The Ethnic Presidency - How Race Decides the Race to the White House

It is evident from the February 6th primaries that either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, or both, will be on the 2008 ballot for the Presidency of the U.S. There will be a lot of discussion in this race regarding whether or not Americans are ready and willing to accept a minority or female President. Will these candidates play into the hands of candidates like Chuck McCain or do they truly offer a viable alternative to a political system that has been dominated by white Anglo-Saxon and mostly protestant men?

In his latest book, The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Decides the Race to the White House by Earl Ofari Hutchinson we get an in-depth feel as to the role that ethnicity and race will play in the presidential election. The book is an explosive look at how racial and ethnic conflict has openly and covertly played a crucial role the past three decades in influencing, shaping and ultimately deciding who bags the world's biggest political prize, the White House. It tells how racial politics will play an even bigger role in the 2008 presidential election and future elections.

It examines Obamamania, the Hillary and Bill factor, the soaring Latino vote, the silent but potent Asian-American vote, the immigration wars, the GOP's love-hate relationship with black and Latino America, and Bush's effort to recast the GOP from a clubby, ole white guys party to a party of racial diversity. The first primary is January 29.

Here is a sampling of questions The Ethnic Presidency asks and answers:

•Will America accept a black president? Can Obama be that president?

•Will America accept a woman president? Can Hillary be that president?

•Will America accept a Latino president? Can Bill Richardson be that president?

•Will America accept a Mormon president? Can Mitt Romney be that president?

•How the GOP played the Southern Strategy through Presidents Nixon, Reagan, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. to repeatedly win the White House. Can and will they abandon it in 2008?

•Did blacks and Latinos elect Bush?

•Have the Democrats taken the black and Latino vote for granted?

•Why have Presidential candidates other than John Edwards avoided making poverty an issue?

•Why immigration will be a stealth factor in the 2008 campaign. And did it help or hurt John McCain?

•Will Rudolph Giuliani's contentious relations with blacks as New York mayor hurt or help his White House bid?

The presidential election in 2008 will be the most diverse and unusual the United States has ever had - what will it mean for the country and the residents of the US? The best way to learn about the ins and outs of this election is to read Mr. Hutchinson's newest book.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Obama and the X Factor of Race

2. The Hillary and Obama Road Show

3. Edwards Made Poverty No Longer a Dirty Word in the Democrat's Mouths

4. .Between Worlds: President Richardson or Latino President Richardson?

5. Democrats Take the Black Vote off the Plantation

6. Reagan, Race and His Imitators

7. Inclusion is Still the GOP's Dilemma

8. Republicans Rethink Race-Momentarily

9. The GOP's Immigration Wall

10. Presidential Candidates Discover the Model Minority

11. Blacks Helped Elect Bush

12. Latinos Helped Elect Bush Too

I had the opportunity to conduct a blog interview with Mr. Hutchinson and his responses to my questions were as follows:

1. Our nation is divided politically, socially and economically. Would a minority president heal those divisions or further polarize them?

Yes and No. Obama appears to represent ethnic bridge building and healing. This is welcome, but there are powerful political forces that have a vested interest, profit and belief in racial and ethnic, gender, sexual preference and religious discord. That has been the American ethic for two centuries. Change will come slowly, and will be fought tenaciously, one man alone can't do it.

2. All candidates promise change in the status quo and, if elected, an end to the influence of power brokers. It seems that if a minority president is elected, it will be because of power brokers and their influence would actually increase in D.C. They may be different people, but the end result is the same. How can any of these candidates possibly avoid the influence of these groups which may be responsible for their success in the election?

They can't. Money is the mother's milk of politics and elections. Lobbyists and fat cat corporate interests will continue to dominate and influence the political agenda. A president committed to reversing that will need to have the political intestinal fortitude to say no to special interests, to mean it and to stick to his word.

3. Can a minority president govern? Winning the White House is one thing but winning a House and Senate majority, as we have seen, is quite another. There is no doubt that certain political forces will gather in these chambers if a minority candidate is elected to thwart their every move. Will we be so embattled with domestic in-fighting that the world will soon pass us by?
Yes and he doesn't have to be a minority president for that to happen, It happened with Clinton and Bush. The same will happen to Obama especially when he pushes for universal health care, to end the war, and to get the money for massive spending on jobs, education and the infrastructure.

4. This is a question that few dare to ask. How long can a minority president survive before extreme elements in our own society decide that they cannot tolerate such a leader? Is the Secret Service that good?

They don't need to physically assassinate him. They can simply politically emasculate and befuddle him which is tantamount to physical elimination without needing to use a bullet.

5. Will the minorities actually go to the polls and vote?

Yes, but minorities alone don't elect presidents -- not yet anyway. White males still make up almost forty percent of the electorate. Obama can only win if he can assemble a modern day updated, non-confrontational Rainbow Coalition.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author, syndicated columnist, political analyst and commentator. He has been a frequent guest on Hannity and Colmes, The O'Reilly Factor, The Big Story, EXTRA, and numerous CNN News and Talk Shows.

He was a regular commentator on CNBC's The Dennis Miller Show. He has been a guest on the Today Show, Dateline, The Lehrer Hour, and BET News, America's Black Forum. He is a frequent commentator for the American Urban Broadcast Network and Ed Gordon's News and Notes on NPR. He is a featured columnist for www.BlackNews. com, www.BlackAmericaWeb .com, and www.Alternet.org.

He is associate editor of New America Media. His op-ed columns appear in the Baltimore Sun, L.A. Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Christian Science Monitor, and other major newspapers.

Mr. Harris was born in Massachusetts. He attended The American University in Washington, D.C. and received his degree in Political Science. His graduate work was done at the University of Northern Colorado and Howard University. While in D.C., he spent several years working for local and regional government agencies. Upon moving to Maine he worked with three governors and served as the Assistant Director of the Maine State Planning Office. He worked on a White House Task Force for the development of a National Rural Policy and later served as Rural Policy Coordinator at the Federal Regional Council of New England. He has worked on gubernatorial and senatorial political campaigns and currently works in Special Education. Mr. Harris is co-author of the novel WAKING GOD and is a nationally syndicated / featured writer for The American Chronicle. He is working on Book II of the Waking God trilogy. His second novel, A MAINE CHRISTMAS CAROL was released by Cambridge Books, his third book, JESUS TAUGHT IT, TOO: THE EARLY ROOTS OF THE LAW OF ATRRACTION was released by Avatar Publication. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Harris http://www.pippoproducts.com/products The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Decides the Race to the White House