Obama's - Post Election Thread

[Capitol Hill]

YournameisMINE: Kama hii issue ni kweli hili kanisa litakuwa linapoteza mwelekeo. Kuna issue kubwa kwa kanisa la Katoliki especially hapa Marekani, issue ya Priests ku abuse watoto wadogo na kuhonga hela nyingi kwa wazazi ili ku keep mambo from becoming PR blunder. To me this is what they should focus on...polishing their image. Lakini hili la kuwa amulia waumini what to do, i personally think it is over the line. Ndio maana watu wengi siku hizi hawaendi makanisani..especially young generation kwa sababu makanisa yamekuwa institutional, I mean yamekuwa a place where people meet and conduct a ROUTINE and wait for another week to do the same. I think if Churches worried less about what they were doing and their mission and vision statements, and cared more about people in the pews they’d be a lot better off.
Na mimi ni mmoja wapo wa hao waenda kanisani.

 

[Pundit]

A law is as good as it's enforceability. Sasa watajuaje nani kam support Obama?

On top of that, Obama is not for abortion, he is for choice.

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

A law is as good as it's enforceability. Sasa watajuaje nani kam support Obama?

On top of that, Obama is not for abortion, he is for choice.

Get outta here kid...."choice" is just a euphemism for abortion and you know it. Afterall, which is better, life or abortion?

 

[The Truth]

I like your racist approach. But sire are you telling me Bush was better for obantus than Obama will. I am not sure whether Obama's presidency is a problem because of his color or what. I do not know where you are getting at. Obama himself and clever Americans called it silly season of politics. Give him a chance and see if America and obantus in US will be worse than now. I am sure he will prove you wrong. You can not compare Mandela and Obama, or US and SA, damn wrong.

The stakes are too high. Put Obantu's race aside for a moment, what exactly has he accomplished in life? What are his accomplishments that make you so optimistic that he will be a good president or change the world as many believe?

 

[The Truth]

One thing I will grant you is the ability to come and defecate on this forum
with undertones that are truly condescending.

Prior to the nominations we were told Obama could not beat Hillary Clinton and her machinery...yet he did.Then we were told by the likes of you that Obama could not win Pennsylvania nor Ohio because he didn't pick Hillary as VP...yet the man did.So my point is that any assumptions you make about President Elect Obama, end up being just assumptions.

I disagree. If it wasn't for circumstances beyond Hillary or McCain's control Obantu would be nowhere. Take the financial crisis for example, McCain was leading up to that point in the race. Many people speculate the Wall Street ponchos who support Obantu exarcebate the financial crisis to help their candidate Obantu but that's just speculation. The super delegates selected Obantu over Hillary. He didn't win fair and square. So these assumptions you mention are well founded.

The mind set of the people you so much want to degrade with your comments has changed and people are independent thinkers so to speak.This notion of trying to act like you know Obama's mind can be thrown to the dungeons of the forgotten.We are rooting for the man to put out his agenda once he assumes office and rectify the wrong that Bush has done to the whole world
with his knee-jerk, selfish policies that favor a few.

I am not a Bush fan but I don't see how Obantu is any better. I hear already about 21 campaign promises have been taken down from his website. They are no longer there. Is that true? Plus his ideas of spreading the wealth don't and won't work.

Meanwhile my advice to you and your people is to take note of the fact that hating on people of the Negro ancestry is a played out stigma. The corrupt activities of Asian businessmen in cahoot with unscrupulous African leaders have siphoned East Africa of billions of shillings that would have gone a long way in strengthening infrastructure that would benefit the common mwananchi. The time is coming when fairness will be affirmed amongst our people and the playing field will be evened out in terms of accountability.

I would agree with your analysis if only East Africa was poor but all of sub-saharan Africa is poor. So clearly you can't blame Asian businessmen for your plight. Plus didn't Idi Amin affirm the fairness you are talking about? He expelled Asians but how did that improve the lives of Ugandans? The economy and the country got worse. I personally think it will be a disaster for East Africa.

 

[Abdulhalim]

Watu wanaolaumu kanisa are simply uninformed fools by choice..

Alichofanya huyo mchungaji ni kuwakumbusha waumini waliomchagua Obama kutubu kwa kosa walofanya ambalo ni kinyume na mafundisho ya imani yao..sasa hapo kosa liko kwa nani? Mjumbe au ujumbe..?

Tuwe objective bana..

 

[Abdulhalim]

@#27,

'Fool' si tusi na ndio maana mods hawajaliweka ktk list ya matusi, maana ni sifa (adjectives) tu kama nyingine..Fool ni mtu anayepinga ilmu kwa kusudi na kwa kutaka..

Ninachotaka kusema ni kuwa, huo ujumbe wa mchungaji ni SAHIHI kwa kuzingatia mafundisho ya kanisa lake..Ndo maana nikauliza una tatizo na mjumbe au ujumbe?

Ujumbe alioutoa mchungaji kwa waumini wake ni kwa manufaa wa roho zao wenyewe kufuatana na mafundisho ya kanisa lao..full stop..Sasa kama subscribers wa kanisa hilo wanaona kuna tatizo kwenye mjumbe badala ya ujumbe hapo ndio ninapopata matatizo ya uelewa wa hawa watu (na watu kama wewe of course)

Karibu

 

[Nyambala]

The stakes are too high. Put Obantu's race aside for a moment, what exactly has he accomplished in life? What are his accomplishments that make you so optimistic that he will be a good president or change the world as many believe?

He won for the highest office on earth remember only 43 men have done so and neither of them is from Punjab or has a Punjab background.

 

[Ladslaus Modest]

Wauwaji na Watukanaji WASIPOTUBU hawatauona ufalme wa Mungu.

 

[Nkamangi]

While the world is celebrating Obamas win, my concern is with Mr Bush and how he must be feeling. Just imagine, all the stories we are hearing from all corners of the world. The love or whatever it is for Obama translates into hate for Bush...Poor texan!!

 

[The Truth]

He won for the highest office on earth remember only 43 men have done so and neither of them is from Punjab or has a Punjab background.

Getting elected is just an opportunity to serve or prove yourself. So I am afraid I can't give Obantu credit yet especially when he was being told what to do, what to say by his campaign staff. All he did was go out and read the teleprompter. Even a child could do that. We will have to wait and see how he performs as president to judge his accomplishments.

 

[Icadon]

getting elected is just an opportunity to serve or prove yourself. So i am afraid i can't give obantu credit yet especially when he was being told what to do, what to say by his campaign staff. All he did was go out and read the teleprompter. Even a child could do that. We will have to wait and see how he performs as president to judge his accomplishments.

yawn....!!!!

 

[Mama]

Nanny not needed, first grandma might move to the white house.

 

[Rubabi]

Is Barrack Obama black , white or mixed?


Since Barack Obama was elected as the first African American president of the US, articles have appeared in various newspapers, some questioning whether Barrack Obama should correctly be referred to as ‘black’ with some suggesting that he is mixed race or biracial. Barrack Obama was born of a black Kenyan father and a white American mother. Most of the current discourse on race is replete with confusion or lack of understanding about the meaning of race.What race is Barack Obama?

The concept of ‘race’

The idea that geographical population with differing external phenotypes can be classified into distinct ‘races’ was first proposed by 19th century European anthropologists. The French writer, Joseph Gobineau was the most notable proponent of this theory culminating in his proposition of an ‘Aryan i.e white European master race. Central to this scheme, was the idea that ‘races’ have separate origins with European ‘whites’ being the first and purest of all ‘races’ ,descending directly from Noah’s ark which had apparently settled in the Caucasus mountains, present day Georgia (hence the name Caucasians) who later mixed with other inferior ‘races’ of separate origins.

Modern science has however dismantled the 19th schema of race; no serious scholar believes human beings can scientifically be grouped into separate ‘races’ For example, Papua new Guineans may externally be mistaken as African with their woolly hair and dark skin but in reality, Papuans are genetically closer to Asians and indeed Europeans than they are to Africans. Scientific disciplines of genetics and archaeology have conclusively shown that all living human beings of all ‘races’ share a common single origin from a hypothetical African ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’ who lived in Sub -Sahara Africa between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago, to later differentiate into diverse people of various colours and body shapes we are today. The ‘racial’ difference is therefore not skin deep; it is the result of adaptation to diverse environments over hundreds of years. People who migrated north evolved lighter skins for a more efficient synthesis of vitamin D from the weak sun while southerners remained dark. Dark skin provides protection against intense sun rays common in the south.

Genetics has shown that 99.9 per cent of human genes across human populations are similar. A greater number of genetic differences are often observed within individuals from the same population than from a different population. Genetic ‘overlaps’ are common among human populations. Europeans, who were originally thought as a pure ‘race’, are in fact ‘hybrid’ according to the Italian geneticist Luigi Cavalli Sforza. ‘White’ Europeans have 2/3 Asian and 1/3 African genes.

Race as a social term

Race is therefore a social rather than a scientific construct. In the United States, one drop of black blood was enough to qualify a person as black, although scientifically, this arrangement is not entirely true, socially, it was a useful way of upholding white privileges.

The mechanics of race in American are largely social. Race is much more of a combination of self identification and looks; a person with a hint of African blood, irrespective of the amount of ‘mixture’ is regarded and treated as black. Barrack Obama fits both definitions. He socially identifies himself as black (attended a black church, married a black woman), has been treated as a black (had problems hailing a cab) and so forth.

Obama cannot socially identify himself as biracial. ‘Biracial’ culture does not exist and never existed in America or anywhere else in the world. Those who wonder why Obama is not referred to as the first mixed president of the America miss the point. There is no ‘mixed’ identity, nor ‘mixed’ churches or organisations that preach biracial emancipation. Above all a, racially pure ‘white race’ does not exist; whites are originally mixed with Africans in the first place.

Obama is an African American .Socially or scientifically, his ‘white’ blood does not make much difference

 

[Mshiiri]

Obama is human. Any human can lead fellow humans. And this is universally agreed. No constitution that accept animals of instincts to lead them.

The rest is just racial discriminations.

Na kwa taarifa yako (FYI) wazungu ndio wabaguzi na ndo maana Maulana aliwapa nchi zisizofaa kulima wala nini na wakaiba utaalamu kutoka kwa blacks na rasilimali mali na watu. Ndio wakafika hapo walipo. Hii ni historia na si hadithi ya mshiiri.

Siku ya siku wale wote waliokandamizwa watanyanyuliwa na kusimama juu yao.

 

[Rodelite]

Interesting ......

 

[X-PASTER]

Barack Obama, the US president-elect, has promised to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, as human rights lawyers warn such a move would face a number of legal difficulties.

Obama told the CBS programme 60 Minutes on Sunday: "I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that.

"I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture.

"And I'm going to make sure that we don't torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world."

Obama had originally promised to shut the US prison in Cuba while on the campaign trail, but his comments on Sunday were the first confirmation of his intentions since the November 4 election.

_______________________________________________
"Guantanamo is only a small part of the problem...the huge majority of [detainees] are in other places like Iraq, Diego Garcia, Ethiopia...this is a much more difficult issue"

Clive Stafford Smith, human rights lawyer
_______________________________________________​

He did not, however, elaborate on where the Guantanamo detainees would be sent or whether they would be put on trial, or released.

Obama's comments come as he prepares later on Monday to meet John McCain - his former Republican presidential rival - for their first meeting since the US elections, to discuss possible bipartisan action on political issues.


Detainees stranded
Clive Stafford Smith, a human rights lawyer who has represented some of the Guantanamo detainees, warned that closing the prison was only the first step and that major hurdles still face the president-elect in dealing with the fall-out from the so-called "war on terror".

One of the difficulties will be placing ex-detainees whose home countries are unwilling to take them back.

"The most difficult dilemma facing Obama is what to do with the 50-odd refugees and stateless people - people from Palestine, from various countries - who have been cleared for release but will have nowhere to go," he told Al Jazeera.

"The biggest favour any country can do President-elect Obama right now is to offer to take some of these stateless people."

Stafford Smith said the US estimates that it will put between 40 and 80 people on trial, while around 160 others should be released.

Yememi issue
"Of these, about 90 are Yemenis. It is a big problem and America needs to find a way of reaching an agreement with Yemen to take them back," he said.

In addition, Stafford Smith, who is also director of the human rights charity Reprieve, said Obama would have to deal with the thousands of detainees held in other countries.

"Guantanamo is only a small part of the problem ... the huge majority of [detainees] are in other places like Iraq, Diego Garcia, Ethiopia ... this is a much more difficult issue."

He also warned it would be difficult to ensure that former Guantanamo prisoners would receive a fair trial even if their cases were heard within the mainstream US judicial system.



Tim McCormack, professor of international humanitarian law at the University of Melbourne and adviser to former-Guantanamo detainee David Hicks, says the quality of evidence appeared not to support the type and number of arrests.

"[If you look] at the way in which the UK dealt with its nationals, the UK brought them back to the UK, they were interrogated by the UK authorities and on the basis of finding insufficient evidence, they were all released," he said.

Louise Christian, a British human rights lawyer who represented UK detainees released in 2004, cautioned the closure of the Cuba-based camp would not amount to a "real move" unless everyone is released.

She also said the US had a "clear responsiblity" to ex-detainees who cannot return home and urged the new administration to find a solution, noting US-based refugee groups had said they were prepared to look after them.

Juvenile detainees
Obama's comments also came as the US revealed that it had held a dozen juveniles at Guantanamo, four more than it had reported to the UN in May.

The admission came after a study released by the Centre for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas last week said the US has held at least a dozen juveniles at Guantanamo, including a Saudi who committed suicide in 2006.

The study said eight of them had been released.

About 250 prisoners are still being held at the US naval camp in Cuba on suspicion of "terrorism" or links to al-Qaeda or the Taliban.

The US president-elect, in a television interview aired on Sunday, also pledged to withdraw troops from Iraq as part of rebuilding "America's moral stature".

More News:Gantanamo Bay

 

[The Truth]

Is Barrack Obama black , white or mixed?


Since Barack Obama was elected as the first African American president of the US, articles have appeared in various newspapers, some questioning whether Barrack Obama should correctly be referred to as ‘black' with some suggesting that he is mixed race or biracial. Barrack Obama was born of a black Kenyan father and a white American mother. Most of the current discourse on race is replete with confusion or lack of understanding about the meaning of race.What race is Barack Obama?

The concept of ‘race'

The idea that geographical population with differing external phenotypes can be classified into distinct ‘races' was first proposed by 19th century European anthropologists. The French writer, Joseph Gobineau was the most notable proponent of this theory culminating in his proposition of an ‘Aryan i.e white European master race. Central to this scheme, was the idea that ‘races' have separate origins with European ‘whites' being the first and purest of all ‘races' ,descending directly from Noah's ark which had apparently settled in the Caucasus mountains, present day Georgia (hence the name Caucasians) who later mixed with other inferior ‘races' of separate origins.

Modern science has however dismantled the 19th schema of race; no serious scholar believes human beings can scientifically be grouped into separate ‘races' For example, Papua new Guineans may externally be mistaken as African with their woolly hair and dark skin but in reality, Papuans are genetically closer to Asians and indeed Europeans than they are to Africans. Scientific disciplines of genetics and archaeology have conclusively shown that all living human beings of all ‘races' share a common single origin from a hypothetical African ‘Adam' and ‘Eve' who lived in Sub -Sahara Africa between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago, to later differentiate into diverse people of various colours and body shapes we are today. The ‘racial' difference is therefore not skin deep; it is the result of adaptation to diverse environments over hundreds of years. People who migrated north evolved lighter skins for a more efficient synthesis of vitamin D from the weak sun while southerners remained dark. Dark skin provides protection against intense sun rays common in the south.

Genetics has shown that 99.9 per cent of human genes across human populations are similar. A greater number of genetic differences are often observed within individuals from the same population than from a different population. Genetic ‘overlaps' are common among human populations. Europeans, who were originally thought as a pure ‘race', are in fact ‘hybrid' according to the Italian geneticist Luigi Cavalli Sforza. ‘White' Europeans have 2/3 Asian and 1/3 African genes.

Race as a social term

Race is therefore a social rather than a scientific construct.

This conclusion is false. The author is ignoring many other facts such as DNA evidence in criminal investigation can determine the race of the victim or perpetrator, DNA matching is used to trace ancestry similar to how American Bantus trace their lineage to Africa, different races are subjected to different diseases such AIDS, lukemia among Bantus, genetic variations can be found among different races etc. So to conclude that race is not a scientific construct is false.

In the United States, one drop of black blood was enough to qualify a person as black, although scientifically, this arrangement is not entirely true, socially, it was a useful way of upholding white privileges.

The mechanics of race in American are largely social. Race is much more of a combination of self identification and looks; a person with a hint of African blood, irrespective of the amount of ‘mixture' is regarded and treated as black. Barrack Obama fits both definitions. He socially identifies himself as black (attended a black church, married a black woman), has been treated as a black (had problems hailing a cab) and so forth.

Obama cannot socially identify himself as biracial. ‘Biracial' culture does not exist and never existed in America or anywhere else in the world. Those who wonder why Obama is not referred to as the first mixed president of the America miss the point. There is no ‘mixed' identity, nor ‘mixed' churches or organisations that preach biracial emancipation. Above all a, racially pure ‘white race' does not exist; whites are originally mixed with Africans in the first place.

Obama is an African American .Socially or scientifically, his ‘white' blood does not make much difference

The simplest way to look at biracial children is to take a glass of milk and a spoonful of mud and mix them together. You will end up with a mixture of milk and mud in the glass. So would you still drink that milk? No, because it is no longer milk and you would consider that mixture to be more mud than milk. Biracial children such as Obantu are viewed in a similar way. And whey you think about it, this analogy sort of makes sense. But due to political correctness many people will not admit that.

 

[The Truth]

It's amazing how Obantu campaigned on the slogan/mantra of "change" but so far his staff and cabinet appointments do not reflect change. His appointments are full of same old politicos. How is selecting Clinton to be secretary of state change? Or Biden as his vice president? Bwahahaha...Obantu sold you a bill of goods. That's why I questioned the intelligence of Obantu supporters. Because at some point if you were intelligent you would have questioned his campaign rhetoric instead of just singing .... "yes we can" like zombies.

 

[Shadow]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton's international business dealings, global foundation and penchant for going off script could present a significant obstacle to Hillary Clinton becoming secretary of state, observers say.


Bill Clinton's extensive global ties could cause conflict if Hillary Clinton is appointed as secretary of state.

On the one hand, his established relationships with world leaders could instantly make the New York senator a welcome face in embassies around the world.

On the other, his complicated global business interests could present future conflicts of interest that result in unneeded headaches for the incoming commander-in-chief.

"These are issues that I'm sure are being discussed, and they will have to be worked out, and it's legitimate to ask these questions," said James Carville, a former aide to the Clintons and CNN contributor. Watch: Does Clinton want the job? »

Two officials with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team confirm to CNN that it is investigating Bill Clinton's finances and post-presidential dealings. As part of the early vetting process, the team is looking for any negative information that could throw the prospect of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state into jeopardy.

A particular issue could be the donor list of Bill Clinton's global foundation, which might show connections to international figures who push policies that might conflict with those of the new Obama administration.

Obama last week asked Clinton if she would consider being his secretary of state, multiple sources told CNN. Clinton's response is expected this week.

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Since exiting the Oval Office eight years ago, Clinton has reportedly raised more than $500 million for the foundation, a significant portion of which financed the construction of his presidential library. The foundation has also doled out millions for AIDS relief in Africa and other charitable causes around the world.

Amid repeated criticism from Sen. Clinton's primary opponents, Bill Clinton would not reveal the extent of the foundation's donor list earlier this year. But The New York Times has reported the list includes some foreign governments, including members of the Saudi royal family, the king of Morocco, a fund connected to the United Arab Emirates, and the governments of Kuwait and Qatar.

The former president has also reportedly solicited funds from international business figures connected to human rights abuses that his wife has outwardly criticized, including the governments of Kazakhstan and China.

During the New York senator's White House bid, critics repeatedly said that foreign governments and business executives could try to exert influence through donations to the foundation, prompting a pledge from the former president to publicly disclose all future donors.

Observers say the same criticism is likely to be raised should Hillary Clinton become secretary of state, especially if countries she is dealing with on the diplomatic stage have at the same time donated heavily to her husband.

The matter could be complicated even further if it remains unclear exactly which foreign governments are supporting Clinton's foundation and to what extent. On Monday, Politico reported that Obama's team is seeking more information about the former president's finances and is growing frustrated over the Clinton camp's response.

The Obama officials disputed the Politico report, but confirmed the transition team is seeking unspecified records from the former president to get a better handle on issues related to his foundation work and presidential library to try to deal with potential conflicts of interest.

Also at issue is the former president's role in general should his wife become secretary of state. Since leaving office, Bill Clinton has become a globetrotter of sorts, amassing millions in speaking fees as he gives talks before corporations around the world.

The Obama administration would probably seek to curtail that practice amid worries that the former president's words could contradict those of his wife at times and make unclear to some just who is speaking for the United States government. But it's unlikely that Clinton, who has always enjoyed the spotlight, would be willing to retreat from the public eye.

"She really has to sit down with her husband and work through where does this leave him," said David Gergen, a senior political analyst for CNN who worked in Clinton's White House. "After all, he's very deeply involved in the Clinton Global Initiative, doing good around the world. Could he continue to do that? Would he have to shut it down? Could he take money from people? There are lots of secondary questions."

Even more problematic could be the former president's history of going decidedly off message during speeches and his willingness to blatantly speak his mind seemingly without regard for the political fallout.

During her presidential bid last year, Sen. Clinton at times publicly criticized her husband for things he said on the campaign trail, and in one particularly embarrassing moment for the campaign, she told him to "knock it off."

But ultimately, the duty of keeping the former president in check may fall to the New York senator should she assume the top diplomatic post.


"If he doesn't stay on script, she's going to have to discipline him, just like she did in the campaign," said Gloria Borger, a CNN senior political analyst.

"It won't be up to Obama, it will be up to her."


Source: Bill Clinton could pose Cabinet problem - CNN.com