Obama fever in Africa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFPczM58G6w

This video is about how the African people celebrated when they heard Barack Obama won the election. They interviewed some Africans and they said Obama's victory means that politics will become better in Africa from now on. I don't exactly know how but I don't think Africans should be celebrating so early. I'm glad they see someone who looks like them become POTUS but they shouldn't be sure if Obama will make Africa a whole lot better since he is the leader of America, not Africa. But I am glad to see them happy especially since his father, Barack Obama Sr., was born in Kenya. Well we see how one continet thinks about the election.

NJ taxes

We have recently been discussing in class how HIGH NJ taxes are and how there is a tax on about everything. Also, taxes keep increasing and unemployment rites are skyrocketing. What is happening to NJ government? We are ranked #1 in taxes and we are not even the largest state. I one reason for the taxes being so high is that we are the most densely populated state in the US. Property taxes have NJ residents complaining every day. Housing foreclosures are occuring every day because people just cannot afford to pay for their house. We need to find a way to solve this problem. The cost of living here in NJ is way too high and many people are just moving out of state. My parents were even considering moving out of state after I graduate since the taxes are so high and both my sister and I will be in college. They want to move to like North Carolina where it is not expensive to live.

Our new president

Well, we all know Barack Obama was recently elected President of the United States of America. Democrats have also recently won more seats in the the US Senate. What does this now mean for the Democrats? A good point Howard brung up in class before was that if the Democrats mess up now, they will receive a bad reputation since they are the main political party in US government. Also, some people epitomize Obama as some savior or something like that. We need to realize he is just a human like the rest of us and he will make mistakes. Some people are just waiting to see him mess up then they will automatically accuse him of being a poor leader. Also, before the election, people were saying if McCain wins he will die in office from cancer or old age, and if Obama enters office he will be assassinated. I think Obama won't be assassinated. The government obviously know while they are many people who love Obama, they are many who despise him as well. They will ensure extra protection for him when he enters office so people need to calm down with the whole assassination thing. About Obama becoming President, this election is one for the history books and will go down in history forever.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama

Former SENATOR Barack Obama has recently been elected PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Wow... that feels good just saying that. This historic election has been very moving for me in terms of African-American history. I remember watching CNN on election day, a little bit after Obama was announced as President, there was an African American man expressing his thoughts. He mentioned that Obama would be inaugurated on January 20, 2009. The NAACP was formed on February 12, 1909 so that makes it almost the 100 year aniversary of the organization, the same year as Obama will officially become President. I thought that was a nice coincedence to me, but maybe it wasn't just a coincedence. The first African-American president in the history of the US. That is just phenomenal to me. Too bad some of our great civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X couldn't live too see the day. I remember hearing in one of MLK's speeches saying how we are trying to get to the 'promise land' and he said he "might not get there with you".
At my church a few weeks ago I remember hearing a guest pastor saying this election was not meant for us. This election is for our (African-American) grandmothers and grandfathers and the people before us.

Voting Machines

So apparantly about 18 out of 21 voting machines in NJ can be hacked using hacking software. If these machines were to be hacked, the votes can be altered and affect the outcome of this presidential race. I think NJ needs to double check its machines to make sure everything is fine before this happens. Sequoia, the company that manufactures the machines, say that the machines are approved by the state of NJ and hacking would not occur in a realistic situation. I hope no voting machines in any state malfunction for this election. I really do not want another Florida situation that happened in 2000.

The Bradley Effect

In class this week we had HW dealing with the Bradley effect. For some who don't know what that is, it is named after Tom Bradley, a mayor in California. He ran for governor and the polls showed he would win easily. It ended up that he lost. The main reason was because people lied to pollsters saying that they would vote or note vote for a black candidate. Then, at the last minute they changed their vote when it came down to election day. I hope this doesn't affect Obama in the election, although I think it will a little bit. I don't think it will cost him the election though. He may just lose a few points in the polls. What do you think?

Does Bateman have a chance?

Alan Bateman, as some of us know, is running against Rush Holt for Congressman. Holt is has been in office for several terms and is known throughout most of NJ. People recognize his name and will most likely vote for him in the upcoming election. This Alan Bateman guy seems like he is coming out of nowhere to challenge Holt. Well, somebody has to. But Bateman probably does not have any chance considering he only has like $7,000 in his campaign compared to Holt's $700,000 or something like that. From hearing him speak, he has several good ideas he plans to execute if elected but he will probably only have to initiate those plans as Deputy Mayor of Holmdel since he will not be elected.

Vice-Presidential Debate

Who do you think won the debate a few nights ago? It seemed to me that Joe Biden seemed more intelligent and had a lot of facts to back up whatever he said. Palin totally dodged some of the questions that she was asked and said responded with a totally different answer. I hate when politicans do that.... I didn't like when Palin kept talking about being a 'hockey mom' and kept saying "gosh darn it". That annoyed that hell out of me. I just think Biden is more qualified for the job because in my eyes, he is wiser. I think he won the debate too.

Hurricane Katrina

My mom was watching Oprah yesterday and I saw a glimpse of the show. A Hurricane Katrina victim was given a home makeover to her house to improve her living conditions. It seems like everyone just forgot about Katrina a few months after it happened. Some people don't realize that there are still many peoples without homes and trying to survive. The government is wasting a lot of money on the war and bailing out banks and forgets all about the other people.

Race factor

I was watching some political news on CNN today and they were talking about how people would vote against Obama just because he is black. There was a quote by some person who supported Obama by saying, "that if it were a white person running against McCain, it'd all be over." I think that is kind of true because some people, although they might be a Democrat, would vote for McCain anyway just because they would not want a black president in office. The whole issue of Obama's ethnicity is just making it a harder race for him. I think it is just sad that people still cannot overlook the color of one's skin. Many voters today no matter what ethnic background still don't even look at a politican's political views and they only focus on their character. Even though race is a major factor in this election, it really shouldn't matter. In MLK's words, " I have a dream that my four little children will one day live a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." When will that day come.......?

Obama can ball

This video of is kind of old but still good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CmvDQK3k2w

I like the idea of a bball court in the White House. It adds some flava to the building his idea of 'Change' might come into effect. Obama said he could tell something about people by basketball for example " People who keep on shooting even though they have no jump shot you can tell there is a self-delusional aspect to their game" (hmm kinda like McCain) But it's good too see the other side of him behind the politics.

Obama '08