Comments (58)

• Nancy

  21 January 2009, 22:30 EST (#)

  On Thursday, January 22, Right to Life will be marching in Washington D.C. to overturn Roe v. Wade. The unborn, those who have not yet been brought forth from their mother’s Womb alive, are persons according to the definition of a person, which is, a Human individual. Each individual person who resides in their Mother’s Womb, is the same person who comes forth from their Mother’s Womb. This is true no matter the location, be it Washington or Alabama, New York, or California… Personhood does not depend on location. Just as a person could not be a slave in Alabama but a person in New York, so too, a child is a person in every location, which includes inside or outside of their Mother’s Womb.

  As I watched those beautiful daughters of The President and Mrs.Obama yesterday, I knew, that had the President mentioned abortion, and they had inquired as to its meaning, it would be his daughters that would tell him the truth.

• Julian B.

  22 January 2009, 1:01 EST (#)

  Here is my wish list (a compilation of some reading and thoughts):

  1) Focus on implementing long term fixes to the financial crisis.

  2) Withdraw US troops from Iraq, and continue fighting terrorism outside the US.

  3) Address the environment issues.

  4) Improve America’s relationships with the rest of the world.

  5) Fix the health system.

  In my modest opinion, doing these things will help build the trust between the Government and its people.

  Julian from Florida
  Vacation Rentals

• Om

  23 January 2009, 0:54 EST (#)

  Initially, he should look at countering the internal and economic problems within the United States. Then come down rather heavily on the some of the economic reforms that are hostile to some extent. There is also a huge issue of terrorism that has the south-eastern part of Asia under its clutches and that the government of Unites States should always keep Islamic extremists under the scanner and also the countries that support and fund them….
  Mud trucks in Fl.

• ilias

  26 January 2009, 1:23 EST (#)

  By taking over, President elect Barrack Obama the presidency of the United States, carries in his shoulders the weight of a big hope: to radically change the way within which Washington understands its leading role in the world. From the authoritative monocracy, the enforcement of military power, the disregard of the international institutions accompanied with fictions of the type «the coalition of the willings», the unconcealed cynicism of having a double standard, US must head towards a multipolar world, based upon cooperation, international law and on the functioning of the institutions of the international community. The newly elected President can contribute significantly towards meeting these objectives.
  In order for the planet to move to the next day, US have to cooperate closely and on an equal basis with Europe and they have to face Russia as a strategic partner, setting aside the Cold War syndromes.
  Especially for Russia, US must abandon the rationale of “encirclement” with the bigger expansion of NATO and with hostile strategies, as the one that has taken place in South Ossetia, last summer. There was a genocide committed by the Saakashvili regime. It is a story of horror, with US supposed partner being the guilty! US don’t need such partners: all these do represent a discredit for this great country! If you want to see what has happened last year in Caucasus, visit the web site http://www.whitebook2008.com. It’s really breathtaking…

• Nigel

  28 January 2009, 5:12 EST (#)

  I have high hopes for this Administration. One comment on environmental issues. Your Foreign Service Diplomats are the ones who people in other countries see as representing the Administration. If you wish others to share your concern about environmental issues, then those Diplomats must also practice what you preach. Far too often, Embassy personnel are the most flagrant in wasting resources, especially electricity. In countires in Africa, where most people have no access to electricicty, and major cities are without electricity for hours each day, many citizens are disgusted that American Diplomats leave air conditioners running 24 hours a day, often when they are on leave. A realistic conservation program, where lights and A/Cs are shut off when not needed, would be a good start. Insistence on new refrigerants, rather than buying equipment using old CFCs, and installation of compact fluorescent lighting would not only save energy and costs, but would show that the Administration is serious about the environment.

• Brittney/Tennessee

  29 January 2009, 21:31 EST (#)

  I believe that ONE of Mr. Presidents biggiest priorities should be giving Felons jobs. My husband is a convisted felon and he has completely turned his life around, I am so proud of him, bust as of now we are living off of my income. He hastes the fact that i have to pay all of the bills, and i admit it is hard. I believe that he is losing hope because no one wants to hire him. Even the fast-food restaurants that have “now hiring” signs wont hire him. I couls see if his felony was for stealing or something related to the job he applies for, but his felony was drug possession with intent to resale. I am completely proud of the person my husband has become but i believe in orfer for him to continue on the right path and to not get so frustrated that he thinks about going back to the profession that led him to the felony in the first place, that he needs a Job. I think it is really unfair to now only him but our two children as well who have to suffer when my daughter or son want an ice cream or something simple and i have to tell them no because we are so tight on money. Is this illegal, or can we make it illegal!!!

• Brittney/Tennessee

  29 January 2009, 21:31 EST (#)

  correction to brevious post—I believe that ONE of Mr. Presidents biggiest priorities should be giving Felons jobs. My husband is a convicted felon and he has completely turned his life around, I am so proud of him, bust as of now we are living off of my income. He hastes the fact that i have to pay all of the bills, and i admit it is hard. I believe that he is losing hope because no one wants to hire him. Even the fast-food restaurants that have “now hiring” signs wont hire him. I couls see if his felony was for stealing or something related to the job he applies for, but his felony was drug possession with intent to resale. I am completely proud of the person my husband has become but i believe in orfer for him to continue on the right path and to not get so frustrated that he thinks about going back to the profession that led him to the felony in the first place, that he needs a Job. I think it is really unfair to now only him but our two children as well who have to suffer when my daughter or son want an ice cream or something simple and i have to tell them no because we are so tight on money. Is this illegal, or can we make it illegal!!!

• Brittney/Tennessee

  29 January 2009, 21:33 EST (#)

  correction to both previous posts—-my goodness—I believe that ONE of Mr. Presidents biggiest priorities should be giving Felons jobs. My husband is a convicted felon and he has completely turned his life around, I am so proud of him, bust as of now we are living off of my income. He hates the fact that i have to pay all of the bills, and i admit it is hard. I believe that he is losing hope because no one wants to hire him. Even the fast-food restaurants that have “now hiring” signs wont hire him. I couls see if his felony was for stealing or something related to the job he applies for, but his felony was drug possession with intent to resale. I am completely proud of the person my husband has become but i believe in orfer for him to continue on the right path and to not get so frustrated that he thinks about going back to the profession that led him to the felony in the first place, that he needs a Job. I think it is really unfair to now only him but our two children as well who have to suffer when my daughter or son want an ice cream or something simple and i have to tell them no because we are so tight on money. Is this illegal, or can we make it illegal!!!

• Janet MacArthur

  30 January 2009, 11:13 EST (#)

  Protect the rights of the unborn who are trusting us to stand for them. Who stood for the rights of your children. what if you hadn’t?

• Jack

  31 January 2009, 5:00 EST (#)

  First of All Thanks for Asking Views of Common Man.
  FINANCIAL Security is the Urgent need for the Nation.When the the Country Itself is feeling Insecure, How can common man contribute Positively.
  Govt. Need to Cut down the All Unnecessary Expenses first, Increase Exports , Rejuvenate the Home Demand.
  This 800M$ Package Hopefully will Help us come out of this slowdown.
  However, It may be a Mistake to think it to be sufficient Without Reconsidering the Policies responsible for this crisis.
  We Should Pull out of this Iraq and Afganistan issue for the time being, and Re-Strengthen our Nation First.
  It is Just Draining out Our Resources.
  There is an Real Need to RESTORE the Delicate Balance between Financial Position and Security.
  Thanks
  Jack
  E shop Diary

• man and van

  31 January 2009, 7:02 EST (#)

  bring on the hydrogen powered cars which toyota was trying in LA..

• Kristine

  31 January 2009, 21:46 EST (#)

  I think the President should find more funding, not only for family support services such as food stamps, medical, child support services, and child welfare, but more funding and staff are needed to provide those services. These services help to maintain the middle class and there are too few who realize this. I would also like to see a campaign to change the image of these services and those who provide them. There is a stigma attached to social service that must be improved and too often these are the last people to be considered for raises. This is because the state representatives who legislate the pay increase look upon these state employees as less than human. They often villanize the very services and state employees that help to stabilize their own state economy.
  For instance, if people understood that Food Stamps not only provide food to needy families but also subsidizes all of the industries and farmers involved in the production of the food, perhaps they would see things a little differently.

• Jitendra Kaushal

  3 February 2009, 10:17 EST (#)

  A man is as great as the cause he espouses goes an old saying. In our unipolar world President Obama carries a heavier burden of expectations and responsibilities than those he idolizes out of his predecessor.

  Lincoln, despite pushing the nation into a long and bloody civil war, stands as the tallest President ever, simply because he operated on the moral plane, as is a statesman’s wont. Such a choice stares Obama in the face. Will his vision end with America or extend far beyond the distant shores of the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, to modest hamlets, hutments and homes in remote and inaccessible corners of the globe? Posterity will judge him for the reach of his vision the depth of his humanism.

  Time has come for mankind to relegate Economics to second place and make justice and equity the foremost business of states. GDP figures only measure material progress. Has the sharp decline in humanity’s moral capital come about because of our obsession with these?

  Hindu thinkers divide human pursuits into four categories, namely, Dharma ( propriety), Artha (monetary pursuits), Kam (yearning and desires) and Moksha (detachment and spiritual inclination). A society’s golden age comes when Moksha comes to the top of the table. When a leader endowed with uncommon moral fiber and spiritual apparatus arrives on the scene an opportunity for such social engineering presents itself. Is Obama ready to accept the challenge?

  America seems to look upon democracy purely as a political system of governance. Indians have taken to democracy like fish to the water because it suits their cultural ethos. Secular credentials of democracy do not militate against religion, but expect it to function as school of humanism, from where adherents of a faith graduate as enlightened citizens.

  All consuming hatred, sadistic thrill in injuring or killing others, total absence of remorse and ignorance masquerading as bravado are universal traits of terrorists.
  How can any political system alter such psyche? The answer lies in reviving the humanism enshrined in local religion and culture. Democracy can take roots only when a people turn to the road of renaissance. Be it Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan a resurgence of Sufism, the humane face of Islam, is a condition precedent for the culture of terrorism to recede.

• Joe Bloggs

  3 February 2009, 11:05 EST (#)

  Obama is an idiot. He’s a politician doing what they all do, care about themselves. If he really cared about the middle east, he’d help Israel wipe out all the terrorists. This means anybody with a weapon; they’re all military, whether they live in civilian areas or not. Just because they have a family and use them as a shield doesn’t mean they shouldn’t die, it means they’re scum and need to pay for killing Israeli and arab women & children. One day American will wake up, and the Israelis will have had the guts to do what they want to do, wipe out the arabs who want to kill them. Then what will America say? “Oh yeh, you were right, now they can’t kill you” or “How could you? Those poor people. Lets send in humanitarian support so they can regroup and attack you again.

• emma yip

  3 February 2009, 13:58 EST (#)

  Joe Bloggs: Quite an ignorant statement. People that want to hate something, will never have a problem seeking out the very worst of the worst.

  Also, anti-Roe v. Wade fanatics are not fully taking their own arguments in to consideration. The combination of a human male’s sperm and a human woman’s egg is not a human yet. It’s two cells, then three, then four, then eventually it becomes a human. Abortion is killing a human PROSPECT. Should men not be allowed to masturbate, because this would be killing many human prospects? Should women be REQUIRED to have unprotected sex on a regular basis once they’ve gotten their first period? Because every time a woman ovulates, she is discharging an egg, and that egg had the possibility of becoming a human.

  That’s my two cents.

• donovan

  6 February 2009, 12:43 EST (#)

  I think that Mr obama as president of the most powerful nation and country in the world, should pay and give more attention to its own backyard, the Caribbean, the Caribbean has been neglected by the bush administration and this has cause tremendous impications for all Caribbean states, the most important one the US needs to pay attention to is Jamaica, the US president needs to force the Jamaican government to fully and properly govern the country, as the world knows Jamaica has the highest crime rate in the Americas, and is a very poor country, over the pat six years 6,799 persons including 2,935 babies as young as 1month old were murdered in Jamaica the crime rate was the highest in the world in 2006 and continues to grow every single day, unemployment has risen and inflation at its highest at 22.9% this cannot continue, please mr Obama help Jamaica and the caribbean we need the US without the US we will rot and die please help us America empire of the world. president Obama please change the immigration laws that the bush administration as put on jamaica, it is very hard to get a visitors visa here and i would like to migrate to the United States but dont have the money and dont know how to approach this, if amrica wants peace in the world, then the country must establish its self as friendly and create employment for its citizens and foreigners alike, please make the migrating process easier please i know in my heart the president obama will do all that i ask and much much much more, thank you and god bless the United States of America ” the best country and nation in the whole world”

• AGUS MULYANA

  7 February 2009, 2:43 EST (#)

  As a Fulbright alumni and citizen of Indonesia, I am hoping that Mr. Obama, the President of the USA, would like to visit my country not for a very short time. Not just for his 4-year-elementary-schoolhood remembrance but also to meet and talk with various kind of groups of its people, esp with groups of muslims to strenghten a real mutual cultural understanding between the people Indonesia and the USA.

• obj

  7 February 2009, 10:47 EST (#)

  like your vision and dream for unity, equity , peace and love . And it reminds me of the book

  Titled: ‘ IT IS TIME WE TRULY KNOW, WHY JESUS WEPT’

  (AT THE GRAVE OF LAZARUS)

  BY N.K.David

  it is time for the world to learn from USA and understand that men fought for such freedom, which led to the election of Barack Obama

  I think it is a book most preachers and leaders should read because it is time they stop hate speeches, killings among others.

  I trust you can send the message across because we need more peaceful co-existence

  Mr. Obasi E.

  belize city

• Leon

  9 February 2009, 9:36 EST (#)

  What should be done is of course prevention of economical crysis development. It will take a lot of time to have the situation under control.

  International relationships, mainly Russia, new president gives a good “white list” to start improvement of the situation in this field. Russia has a great influence on Central Asia and Europe today. Thus, joining of efforts for prive interest of the both countries, especially at this time, is more acceptable.Good relationship with Russia will also be a positive change of image for the US.

  War with terrorism in Afganistan should not be stopped.

• Chris

  9 February 2009, 21:13 EST (#)

  President Obama,

  Please don’t let the republicans destroy the American tradition of free public education. Schools need help desperately. Keep aide to public education in the stimulus package.

• mostafa

  10 February 2009, 3:29 EST (#)

  با سلام مذاکره بهترین روش میباشد اما با توجه به مشکلات مردم ایران و عدم رعایت حقوق بشر در ایران و چشم انداز روشنی که با انتخاب اقای اوباما برای ملتهای دنیا بوجود امده اقای اوباما وتیم مذاکره کننده ایشان تنها به فکر منافع کوتاه مدت خودشان نباشند بلکه با در نظر گرفتن منافع مردم ایران از جمله رعایت حقوق بشر ازادی زندانیان سیاسی و… سایر مسایلی که منافع مردم زیر پا گذاشته میشود اقدام فرماییند با امید به برقراری و پایداری صلح و ازادی و رفاه برای تمام مردم جهان بدون توجه به رنگ پوست ونژادو مذهب انها

• Eduardo

  10 February 2009, 21:37 EST (#)

  1) Establishment of math criteria between all countries to limit population growth. I suggest using surface and temperature in each country.

  2) Establishment of mechanisms in all countries to recover vegetation and animals.

  3) Standardization of administrations of all countries.

• B. Smith

  11 February 2009, 15:11 EST (#)

  I hope the best for the new president, but I have little hope for what can be done for the country. First we must stop wasted spending of money we don’t have, We must stop helping every country in the world when this country needs every penny the tax payers have to pay . We must stop immigration cool , the USA is full,we don’t need any more people here. We must get a handle on imports This country can not survive with out building product here at home. technology and services can not build a strong nation.

• Farri Cress

  12 February 2009, 12:23 EST (#)

  Wait for the Iranian elections to take place in June and then make a serious overture to Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, who is the main decision maker. Don’t give Ahmadinejad an excuse to claim that his hardline policies have worked. When a new president is elected and hopefully Khatami, then make a generous offer that Iran can’t refuse such as returning Iran’s assets, the lifting of sanctions and the announcement that regime change is off the table. US envoys should then visit Iran and start the process of normalizing relations.

• gorgestani

  13 February 2009, 6:41 EST (#)

  a lots of organisations rubbed the usa during the war with iraq (charging about $1,000,000)as freight for 17 cents gasket was only a sample publishes by yahoo news find it out and return to budget plus related fine, bring back soldures from iraq and save $15 bills./month. finish the war in afghanistan make peace with iran follow what you promisd during your campaign especially about health coverage and uniting the immigrant family members.

• TADE

  14 February 2009, 5:35 EST (#)

  bush is the main cause of all the problem. killing innocent souls,wasting of money, searching for terrorist in the world doing all this without solving out is own problem in is country . I think the man of change can change all this by deleting bush plan from is file, helping does who are sekking for help in palestine. making peace is what should be is first piority.

• Janelle in Vermont

  14 February 2009, 16:01 EST (#)

  As we all know, domestic concerns are priority. We need an America which works for all of us. I see the Obama administration as taking steps to design a plan that will improve life for all Americans.

  I hope, that given time, our relations with other countries will be addressed. Please increase the State Department’s ability to represent all that is good in America and give them the small resources to do what they long to do.

  Taking care of healthcare and education for our Nation’s children is priority, but giving them a safer world to live in is important too.

• Jeff

  15 February 2009, 9:55 EST (#)

  I’m not sure if the stimulus will help that much in the current economic environment. Economies go through cycles and recession is part of the cycle. I read a good article on the history of cycles at, I think,

  http://www.recessioninfocenter.com

• Mark sutherland

  15 February 2009, 16:29 EST (#)

  I hope to see the financial crisis sorted quickly.
  He must also get far tougher with the banking system who have simply looked after themselves with the bail out money.

  Mark

• asavasabd

  16 February 2009, 9:01 EST (#)

  fine blog is america.gov

• farshad

  17 February 2009, 3:17 EST (#)

  با سلام امیدوارم پس از تصدی گری حضرتعالی شاهد اتفاقات و گشایش درهای اعتماد و گفتگویی سازنده میان دو کشور باشیم .من مطمئن هستم ارتباط کشور مطبوع شما چنان تاثیری در سطح خاورمیانه خواهد داشت که کلیه معادلات را بر هم خواهد زد .به امید صلح و دوستی تمام ملتها
  فرشاد

• sam

  17 February 2009, 21:28 EST (#)

  If Obama could have acted quicker, he might have been able to abort the octuplets in the California lady.

• Stephanie Henderson

  18 February 2009, 16:42 EST (#)

  He needs to step down is what he needs to do before further damaging this Country.

• Demoulin jm

  19 February 2009, 10:58 EST (#)

  From my french point of view, i just hope Pdt Obama will continue the way he is showing now. “Hope that Russian have children too”. Important challenges for B. Ob, with russia and western europe for the world quietness. My desease is that we have not, in france, a so hopefull président! It’s near the Zéro Fareneiht.
  The first thing to do Mr Président of the USA should be, exit toxics néolibéral-ideologs. Stop Monsanto too. Let the farmers of this wolrld be free in dignity. Please something new, for all of us.

• Jeff

  19 February 2009, 20:02 EST (#)

  I think there are valid arguments on both side about this government plan. Will it raise the budget deficit? Probably. Will it help? That’s a good question. I think economies go through cycles and this might be one of them. I read a good article on recessions and their history on

  http://www.recessioninfocenter.com

• Americans against the war- france

  20 February 2009, 9:28 EST (#)

  Getting out of Iraq, out of Afghanistan, stopping all creation of US bases in Europe,
  not increasing membership to NATO and ending the horrific Israeli assault on Palestinians should be Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy. President Obama, if he is the intelligent man he appears must fight the hawks and war-mongers in the US government and do what is right.
  Finding solutions to conflicts by force is doomed to failure and outmoded. The world is waiting for another solution from Mr. Obama.

  Disengaging in all these conflicts of interest and the occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine will Save Lives, Save Money and promote PEACE !

  ACT SWIFTLY

• Americans against the war- france

  20 February 2009, 9:30 EST (#)

  Getting out of Iraq, out of Afghanistan, stopping all creation of US bases in Europe, not increasing membership to NATO and ending the horrific Israeli assault on Palestinians should be Barack Obama’s priority for his Foreign Policy. President Obama, if he is the intelligent man he appears must fight the hawks and war-mongers in the US government and do what is right.

  Finding solutions to conflicts by force is doomed to failure and outmoded. The world is waiting for another solution from Mr. Obama.

  Disengaging in all these conflicts of interest and the occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine will Save Lives, Save Money and promote PEACE !

  ACT SWIFTLY

• R. Bissett Buechel

  20 February 2009, 11:45 EST (#)

  In addition to weapons,
  communication should be a big priority. Efforts, (that I’ve read have been used elsewhere), at using accurate interpretations of the Koran to teach violent religious fanatics and show them that theirs can be a religion of peace and harmony. Solely using military violence only confirms their view of the west as an enemy.

  Assure backing, cooperation and support by secular governments in largely Muslim countries in the attempt to create a stable and free infrastructure there.
  Enforce the UN Declaration of Human Rights to justify such a transformation.

  Help Afghanistan on its feet by developing pharmaceutical operations there so the drug trade can be channeled into useful, human endeavour.

• ilias

  22 February 2009, 3:48 EST (#)

  A few more, about the core of Caucasus issue and the US supposed partner in the region, the president of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili. Who really is this man? Find the answer in the following text, by F. William Engdahl (http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net/).

  «The controversy over the Georgian surprise military attacks on South Ossetia and Abkhazia on 8.8.08 makes a closer look at the controversial Georgian President and his puppet masters important. An examination shows 41 year old Mikhail Saakashvili to be a ruthless and corrupt totalitarian who is tied to not only the US NATO establishment, but also to the Israeli military and intelligence establishment. The famous ‘Rose Revolution of November 2003 that forced the ageing Edouard Shevardnadze from power and swept the then 36 year old US university graduate into power was run and financed by the US State Department, the Soros Foundations, and agencies tied to the Pentagon and US intelligence community.

  Mihkail Saakashvili was deliberately placed in power in one of the most sophisticated US regime change operations, using ostensibly private NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) to create an atmosphere of popular protest against the existing regime of former Soviet Foreign Minister Edouard Shevardnadze, who was no longer useful to Washington when he began to make a deal with Moscow over energy pipelines and privatizations.

  Saakashvili was brought to power in a US-engineered coup run on the ground by US-funded NGO’s, in an application of a new method of US destabilization of regimes it considered hostile to its foreign policy agenda. The November 24 2003 Wall Street Journal explicitly credited the toppling of Shevardnadze’s regime to the operations of “a raft of non-governmental organizations . . . supported by American and other Western foundations.” These NGOs, said the Journal, had “spawned a class of young, English-speaking intellectuals hungry for pro-Western reforms” who were instrumental laying the groundwork for a bloodless coup.

  Coup by NGO
  But there is more. The NGOs were coordinated by the US Ambassador to Georgia, Richard Miles, who had just arrived in Tbilisi fresh from success in orchestrating the CIA-backed toppling of Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade, using the same NGOs. Miles, who is believed to be an undercover intelligence specialist, supervised the Saakashvili coup.

  It involved US billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Georgia Foundation. It involved the Washington-based Freedom House whose chairman was former CIA chief James Woolsey. It involved generous financing from the US Congress-financed National Endowment for Democracy, an agency created by Ronald Reagan in the 1980’s to “do privately what the CIA used to do,” namely coups against regimes the US Government finds unfriendly.

  George Soros’ foundations have been forced to leave numerous eastern European countries including Russia as well as China after the 1989 student Tiananmen Square uprising. Soros is also the financier together with the US State Department of the Human Rights Watch, a US- based and run propaganda arm of the entire NGO apparatus of regime coups such as Georgia and Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution. Some analysts believe Soros is a high-level operative of the US State Department or intelligence services using his private foundations as cover.

  The US State Department funded the Georgia Liberty Institute headed by Saakashvili, US approved candidate to succeed the no-longer cooperative Shevardnadze. The Liberty Institute in turn created “Kmara!” which translates “Enough!” According to a BBC report at the time, Kmara! Was organized in spring of 2003 when Saakashvili along with hand-picked Georgia student activists were paid by the Soros Foundation to go to Belgrade to learn from the US-financed Otpor activists that toppled Milosevic. They were trained in Gene Sharp’s “non-violence as a method of warfare” by the Belgrade Center for Nonviolent Resistance.

  Saakashvili as mafioso President
  Once he was in place in January 2004 as Georgia’s new President, Saakashvili proceeded to pack the regime with his cronies and kinsmen. The death of Zurab Zhvania, his prime minister in February, 2005, remains a mystery. The official version-poisoning by faulty gas heater-was adopted by American FBI investigators within two weeks of the killing. That has never seemed credible to those familiar with Georgia’s gangland slayings, crime, and other manifestations of social decay. Zhvania’s death was followed closely by a functionary of the Premier’s apparat, Georgi Khelashvili, who allegedly shot himself the day after his chief’s demise. The head of Zhvania’s research staff was later found dead as well.

  Figures allied with Saakashvili reportedly had a hand in the premier’s death. Russian journalist Marina Perevozkina quoted Gia Khurashvili, a Georgian economist. Prior to the fatal incident, Mr. Khurashvili had published an article in Resonans newspaper opposing the privatization and sale of Georgia’s main gas pipeline. Ten days before the prime minister’s body was found, Khurashvili was attacked and his editor-in-chief-citing pressure from ’security service’ figures he refused to name-issued him a warning.

  The late premier’s position on the pipeline issue was believed the direct reason for the murder of Zhvania. Zhvania’s brother, Georgi, also told Perevozkina that not long before Zhvania’s death he received a warning that someone was preparing to kill his brother. Saakashvili was reportedly livid when the US State Department invited Zhvania to Washington to win a Freedom Medal from the US Government’s National Democratic Institute. Saakashvili tolerates no rivals for power it seems.

  Saakashvili, who cleverly marketed himself as “anti-corruption,” appointed several of his family members to lucrative posts in government, giving one of his brothers a position as chief adviser on domestic issues to the Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline project, backed by British Petroleum and other oil multinationals.

  Since coming to power in 2004 with US aid, Saakashvili has led a policy of mass-scale arrests, imprisonment, torture and deepened corruption. Saakashvili has presided over the creation of a de facto one-party state, with a dummy opposition occupying a tiny portion of seats in the parliament, and this public servant is building a Ceaucescu-style palace for himself on the outskirts of Tbilisi. According to the magazine, Civil Georgia (Mar. 22, 2004) until 2005, the salaries of Saakashvili and many of his ministers were reportedly paid by the NGO network of New York-based currency speculator Soros- along with the United Nations Development Program.»

• Long-hwa Lee

  24 February 2009, 14:56 EST (#)

  In a mere 35 days, our President has managed to give tremendous hope and excitement to America’s greatest enemies, signaling a foreign policy of appeasement and backpedalling, and has turned the United States into a second rate bit player on the world stage.

  Our Secretary of State, spokesperson for an administration that vaulted to power based on a purported platform dedicated to “human rights” (though apparently it seems the human rights of Guantanamo inmates, not Tibetans or Taiwanese, or Jews), has given China the clear and unequivocal message that it can continue murdering, oppressing, stifling, poisoning and suppressing its citizens (including Tibetans, whom China has continued to eradicate for more than 40 years) and all those who threaten its tyranny (including Taiwan), and can continue to blackmail the world (including the United States - who could believe the Secretary of State would abase America, and say “Human rights? What human rights? BUY BONDS - UNCLE SAM WANTS YOU TO BUY BONDS, BEIJING!”) to achieve its goals of a one-party world (which Hu Jin-tao euphemistically calls “social harmony”, a CCP idiom meaning “one-party dictatorship with no freedom”).

  Nor has the Obama administration been prejudiced in indicating its meekness at all. It has given equal succor to Islamic extremists (such as Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Taliban), which, seeing Obama flinch, are now loaded for bear - (how cheaply can you buy a Taepodong-2?) and communist extremists (including the Castro twins, Hugo Chavez, “President” Hu, Kim Jong-il) alike, from Cuba to Iran.

  It is simply amazing to wake up a mere 35 days after Obama took office, in a world wherein America has no punch whatsoever, led by a president who smiles and talks softly and carries no stick at all. Obama needs to rethink his strategy of debasing America, and pick up the stick and start getting used to it asap. Telling today’s terrorists and dictators that America is on holiday is not change, it is suicide.

• Sandy Vadi

  25 February 2009, 10:17 EST (#)

  It is distressing to watch the witnesses accounts on ‘Hearing on Sri Lankan Situation’.

  Media blackout, Detention camps and the human sufferings all remind us of another genocide is taking shape in the island nation.

  Obama Administration should take a decisive action to put an end to this.
  Time is running out.

• mostafa

  25 February 2009, 22:12 EST (#)

  سلام با توجه به انتشار کزارش توسط وزارت خارجه امریکا که وضعیت حقوق بشرایران در سال 2008 بدتر شده است پیشنهاد میکنم کشورهای پایبند به رعایت این حقوق مانند امریکا و اروپا در مذاکرات خود با کشورهای مانند ایران با در نظر گرفتن این امر و ایجاد محدودیت در روابط بین المللی و یا با برگزاری مراسمی در سطح جهان واعلام اینکه کشورهای ناقص حقوق حق بشر حق شرکت در این مراسم را ندارند ویا در تصمیم گیری بعضی از امور در سازمان ملل کشورهای ناقص حقوق بشر را در زمان تصمیم گیری و برگزاری جلسه مذکور اخراج کنند

• Nancy

  27 February 2009, 12:27 EST (#)

  Frederick Douglass, regarding slavery: “There is no Negro problem.
  The problem is whether the American people have Loyalty enough, Honor enough, Patriotism enough, to live up to their own Constitution.”

  So, too, abortion is not a problem with the Unborn. “The problem is whether the American people have Loyalty enough, Honor enough, Patriotism enough, to live up to their own Constitution,” and the
  words of our Founding Fathers who believed that ALL men, and not just the citizens of The United States of America, are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain UNALIENABLE Rights, among which the Right to Life, without which, there can be no other Rights, is listed first. Our Founding Fathers knew, that the Right to Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness depends on Respect for the Right to Life of every Human Individual.

• Nancy

  27 February 2009, 12:40 EST (#)

  Farshad and Mostafa, I am wondering what your comments said. Can they be translated into English?

• Bligh Ferrara

  4 March 2009, 16:40 EST (#)

  Iran has a Lueger. America has a loaded Magnum pointed at Iran.

  America is watching while Iran methodically loads round after round into a magazine, which it will soon slide into the gun. Why are they loading the gun do you think?

  America has an option. It can wait until all the rounds are loaded in the gun, and magazine slips into place and Iran raises the gun and based on all we know will shoot. If we don’t think they will - then we are in a Universe called “denial”.

  America can also destroy the Natanz centrifuges and the Bushehr Reactor but this would require and Atomic bomb militarily to do and would cause the sort of world outrage that we have never before seen. Or possibly it wouldn’t. Remember the reation even today to Hiroshma.

  America can also give advanced weaponry to an ally and let the ally do the “dirty work”. Not all that pretty or perhaps the way it won the 2nd World War, but it gets over a lot of problems for a lot of countries including Europe. The European leaders choose to live in the Universe called denial.

  But make no mistake - we are back in in 1938 and Hitler is rearming. Next comes Munich, then the invasion of Poland and after that 55 million people dead in 6 years.

  Except Hitler wanted to kill everyone who wasn’t an “aryan” (like him).

  All Iran wants is … your souls. Not just your bodies. Your very soul.

  I would prefer being gassed in concentration camp or shot on the battlefield, personally.

  All this, and Hitler didn’t even have Atomic Bombs.

  If America doesn’t shoot before the last round goes in to the Lueger we are truly finished.

  This is everyone … its showtime.

• John

  5 March 2009, 19:08 EST (#)

  President elect Obama’s top priority should be fixing the troubled economy over which he got the confidence of the American people. That needs organising strong economic team. He should, therefore, make sure that he has got a team that can tackle the economic crisis without delay. Solving the crisis at home may not be enough hence he should be ready to find solutions to the economic crisis worldwide. That needs cooperation with major economies in Europe and North America and emerging economies in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

  Keystone rv from FL

• Janice Chance

  6 March 2009, 5:27 EST (#)

  This President is a new example of a Cheeser Cat. (Remeamber Alice in Wonderland?) For every promise he made during the campaigne, it is Now just a big SMILE and Tail Switching and a loud PURRING with the lie taking the place of the promise flowing from his mouth. A Hugh Grin on Face that quitely says “I Got Ya”.

• Hazem

  7 March 2009, 4:02 EST (#)

  على السيد الرئيس اوباما دعم الديمقراطية في الشرق الأوسط لأنها السبيل الوحيد لمواجهة التطرف و الارهاب بالاضافة أن الديمقراطية تحقق الرفاهية و السلام.
  و أن لا يكون هناك تهاون مع الذين يستخدمون سلطاتهم و يرتكبون جرائم ضد المدنيين و جرائم الإبادة الجماعية و الجرائم ضد الانسانية.
  هنيئا للشعب الامريكي العظيم بالسيد الرئيس أوباما

• ahmed mukhtar

  8 March 2009, 13:16 EDT (#)

  The U.S. government to pursue a policy of dialogue with the Sudanese government rather than the policy pursued by the constant pressure the Bush administration and it must make good-faith initiative, especially when the Sudanese government has strayed complains that the United States has always, despite its sequence in the fight against terrorism and announced the permanent desire to dialogue. Support First, the position of the criminal, unethical, especially from the United States, will lead to weaken the strong man who could be supported by the U.S.

• Nancy

  9 March 2009, 15:56 EDT (#)

  Mostafa, Farshad, Hazem, does this mean you do not want us to know what you said?

• Michelle Austein Brooks

  9 March 2009, 16:05 EDT (#)

  @Nancy. We’ve gotten a few questions/comments similar to yours on First 100 Days. Just to clarify, it is America.gov policy to allow people to comment in any language. Some of our readers may not read English well and may be more comfortable posting in their native language. We welcome such posts.

• Edwin

  10 March 2009, 7:50 EDT (#)

  I’m from Indonesia. My country pray for Mr. resident Obama. e ever live at my country when children

  CreditEquityLoans

• DANIEL E. LLOYD

  10 March 2009, 10:58 EDT (#)

  ONE OF THE VERY BEST STRATIGY I KNOW OF IS TO HAVE ME COME OVER TO AMERICA AND JOIN WITH THE REST OF THE VERY BEST SUMMISIVE BRETHREN IN THE LORD IN PRAYERS FOR GOD’S GUIDANCE AND DIRECTIONS’ HIS BLESSINGS AND PROGRESSIVE SUCCESS IN ALL ENDEAVOURS FOR THE WORLD’S PEACE HEADED BY AMERICA WHICH HE HAS ORDAINED ME TO.

  DANIEL LLOYD

  FROM LIBERIA

• ahmed mukhtar

  12 March 2009, 10:08 EDT (#)

  الرئيس اوباما لقد كان انتخابك ملهما للعديد من الشعوب واعطى الامل للشعوب بان الاحلام يمكن ان تكون حقيقة في يوم من الايام. وفي ايمك الاولى نرى الاجتهاد في التغيير من السياسة العدائية التى كانت متبعة في عهد بوش. الا اننا في السودان لم نلمس هذا التغيير في السياسات وكان عهدا جديدا لم ياتي في امريكا.لا تزال الارقام الجوفاء عن القتلى في دارفور والحديث الغير دقيق عن ازمة انسانية ليست موجودة الا في مخيلة المنظمات وتضخيم ردة الفعل الحكومية تجاه المنظمات من قبل الحكومة السودانية.والتعليق المستقوي من قبل مندوبة الولايات المتحدة.ان السودان سعى دائما لعلاقات مع بلادكم وتعاون معكم في حربكم ضد الارهاب فلا تعيدوه للمربع السابق بمواقفكم المستجيبة للمنظمات صاحبة المصالح.نصيحتي ان تدشن مرحلة جديدة مع الحكومة في الخرطوم والحكومة القوية قادرة على تنفيذ اتفاقها اكثر من حكومة ضعيفة او فوضى تعم اقليم بحجم السودان

• Joe Ghaly

  12 March 2009, 10:27 EDT (#)

  Hi presedant,

  we belive that you and your goverment are more accurate at all isues specially external relationship.
  I am a blach man and an african, (we are an african we are hot blood). As known and agreed Africa is faced alot of problems , althuogh the UN council create new (SUDAN - Darfour Conflict) . what the benifts US gains from such problems ?
  please try to help us .
  please help us and solve our problems (Africa problems) if not please don’t complicate it.

  note:
  4give me if there are typing errors .

• Prof Damodar Gurrapu

  13 March 2009, 3:11 EDT (#)

  Like India, America also has one of the highest dropout rates. American high school students score less marks in mathematics and science tests than most of their foreign peers. American kids can learn mathematics techniques from India as Indian Math Online, an Indian company, is already doing it.
  Even after spending billions of dollars, America has fallen short in meeting the goals of educational excellence. America needs to improve the academic performance of disadvantaged students, boost teacher quality, move limited English Proficiency students to English fluency, promote informed parental choice and innovative programs and encourage freedom and accountability.
  New govt. should see that many urban and rural schools in America should not suffer from overcrowded classrooms, outdated books, inadequate equipment, and teachers who are forced to pay from their pockets for basic supplies. Obama’s priorities should be investing more in childcare and preschools, raising the quality of teachers and investing in out-of-school activities to reduce dropouts.
  The Obama Plan should include modules on morals and cultural values. It should enforce discipline in the classroom. It should conduct remedial and bridge course in English to drop-outs. It should give importance to extra-curricular and co-curricular activities under the supervision of teachers. Outreach programs should be linked to the importance of the day and undertake activities useful for all communities. It should start eco-clubs to care of their environment. It should provide free mid-day meal to attract child workers. It should supply free stationary, textbooks, stipend to the poor. Students should not be allowed to enter campus with prohibited weapons.
  America can learn from India which has launched several policies and programs to improve quality and quantitative education for all. Teachers at primary level are recruited by district selection committees. The schools are assisted by local body / parents committees consisting of mandal education officer, mandal resource persons, village surpanch / head, parents and ward members to monitor the functioning of schools. Anganvadis are available for kids of 1 to 5 years old providing nutritious food and all facilities for play-way methods including free textbooks. Some more facilities are extended to students at primary and secondary levels by providing scholarships, free clothes, free transportation, mid-day meals, etc. Teachers have orientation programs periodically. In tribal areas and semi-urban areas teachers stay with learners supervising the studies. Schools are provided with teaching aids, grants, incentives and additional increments. Of late, even students pursuing professional courses are exempted from tuition fee if they belong to economically backward communities. Scheduled banks are given instructions to grant education loans to all deserving students.
  Some schools have subject-wise, class-wise clubs besides literary and science clubs. Some select schools encourage students to excel in fine arts such as crafts, painting, singing, dancing, etc. Vocational training colleges equip the students with the skills they need to earn their livelihood.
  There should be space in the public system for good charter schools in America that innovate or attract creative social entrepreneurs into education; mismanaged chartered schools should be regulated out of existence as it is already happening in Illinois, home state of Obama.
  Research also shows that teachers who are good at mathematics, science or English can teach the students effectively and help them perform better in those important subjects. As the New York study shows attracting more number of talented graduates into teaching will improve students’ achievements. Obama’s investment strategy looks superior to the school choice. His move to shift public resources to the middle-class and the socially disadvantaged would benefit millions of children’s economic conditions at home; this in turn would improve their school performance. The study also reveals that when the distribution of a country’s income is more equal, average school achievement becomes higher.
  A more challenging and rigorous curriculum with emphasis on mathematics, science and literary skills; longer hours and more days to give children the time and sustained attention they need to learn; early childhood education for every child; meaningful performance based assessment that can provide a fuller picture of how a student is doing; and the recruitment and training of transformative principals and more effective teachers should be Obama’s thrust areas.
  Obama is right when he says that the new entrants cannot be judged simply on standardized tests that do not take into accounts whether they are prepared before they get to school. First, they want to identify those reforms that have the highest impact on achievement, fund them and eliminate those programs that do not produce results. They want to take the teaching profession seriously. In other words, they want to pay handsomely to the talented teachers. An experienced and high qualified teacher can earn up to $ 100,000. Highly paid teachers of course need to become more accountable for their performance and school districts need to have greater ability to get rid of lazy, dull and ineffective teachers.
  It is time for India and America to treat teaching as the noblest profession and pay the teachers what they deserve. When teachers are paid high, they work with all sincerity and seriousness. It is time to stop working against the teachers and start working with them.
  It is a well-known fact that good teachers do not embrace education to become economically sound. They go into education because they do believe in their children and in their profession. If we invest in early childhood education and later in our teachers, our children will be successful.
  The Charter schools in America which provide enhanced parental choice with quality education are exempt from many statutory and regulatory requirements. Nevertheless, they are held accountable for improving students’ academic achievement. The objective is to replace rules-based governance with performance-based accountability, thereby stimulating the creativity and commitment of teachers, parents and citizens. They are designed to deliver programs tailored to educational excellence and the needs of the community they serve.
  It is glad to know that Obama believes that American children cannot afford any more years of neglect and indifference in education. I hope Obama is committed to meeting this challenge with the leadership and judgment that has been lacking for the last eight years. Obama’s vision for a 21st century education begins with demanding more reform and accountability, coupled with the resources needed to carry out that reform; asking parents to take responsibility for their children’s success; and recruiting, retaining, and rewarding an army of new teachers to fill new successful schools that prepare their children for success in college and the workforce. The Obama plan will restore the promise of America’s public education and ensure that American children again will lead the world in achievement, creativity and success.

• Dr: Ahmed Hashim Mohd

  13 March 2009, 14:40 EDT (#)

  كل الذي نريده من السيد اوباما هو الوقوف بنفسه علي الموقف في دارفور والاستماع الي كل الاطراف الحكومة والمعارضة وعدم الاكتفاء بالمعلومات المغلوطة المنقولة اليك لان فيها معلومات خاطئة ومغايرة للواقع . ونود ان نؤكد نحن في السودان بان امر توقيف فخامة الرئيس السوداني وهو في سدة الحكم هو مساس بسيادة الوطن ولا يقبله اي سوداني مهما كانت درجة كرهه للبشير كما ان القرار سينسحب سلبا علي السلام في دارفور الذين يتباكون عليها وباقي اتفاقات السلام الموقعة مما قد يؤدي الي تفتيت السودان وتمزيقه والتاثير علي الاستقرار في المنطقة

• David T. Harris

  14 March 2009, 15:26 EDT (#)

  What we must remember that while Lula is a pragmatist and is very capable the problem is with people like Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales. They do not understand that while it is OK to use anti-USA language to help themselves what will happen when they destroy their fragile economies and they will. They will do to them what Castro has already done to Cuba. The difference is that they won’t have an embargo to blame it on.

  In a way we owe a big favor to Chavez, he is actually making us search for other alternatives and thus lessening dependence on him. What will he do when he receives fewer petrodollars?

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