Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech at the DNC

Here is the complete video of Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. The speech was given on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D. C. Although Barack Obama delivered his speech at the Mile High stadium in Denver to over 80,000 supporters, the moment was equally historic. As one young Obama supporter put it, "Barack Obama is my personal Jesus."

Aside from putting the entire stadium and all the viewers at home on Cloud 9, the speech secured Barack Obama's place in history as the first black American to receive the presidential nomination of a major political party (before him, Frederick Douglas received one vote from the Republican party when he ran for president) as well as a place as one of the United States' greatest orators.

In the words of a young college student after watching the speech, her voice cracking with emotion, "That was beautiful!!! How could you vote for anyone else?" In my own words, "No one can rock as much as Barack."

Enjoy the speech.

Sex and the Kiddies

As the United States government is finally figuring out, abstinence only programs for teaching sex education clearly do not work. This should be no surprise but for those that couldn't see the obvious, even a quick analysis of other countries' policies would more than clear up the issue. For example, while the United States experienced its HIV/AIDS outbreak in the 1980s (with Ronald Reagan failing to attempt to act until 1985), other countries experience the virus' effects to a far greater degree and thus, their governments were under even more pressure to act quickly.

Take the case of Uganda. Initially, Uganda was active in efforts to stem the disease's devastating effects. However, after a change in administrations, the government cut back on comprehensive sex education and distribution of birth control methods. As one could expect, this lead to a rise in the number of people infected with the virus. However, when Uganda elected a new president, one who enacted comprehensive sex education programs and made combating HIV/AIDS a priority, the number of people infected decreased significantly. The United States government has all of this data, but President Bush's HIV/AIDS programs for Africa largely focus on abstinence only programs even though these are proven to be far less effective and with far greater costs to human life.

Classy as ever, Jon Stewart tackles the issue of providing an alternative solution that compromises between rigid abstinence only and comprehensive sex education programs.



Take a hint, Congress. Teaching the obvious, proven-to-work comprehensive sex education programs shouldn't be so difficult.

FREE TIBET! STOP GENOCIDE!

Monday, March 10^th, 2008, marked the 49th anniversary of the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese invasion, oppression, and genocide. While demonstration of any kind against the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) is illegal and punishable by imprisonment, torture, and death, every year, both in the TAR and around the world (Thank You, Nepal), people bravely speak out against China's crimes. This year, the protests broke into riot in Lhasa, resulting in gunfire and intensification of the already harsh martial law.

This year however, with the upcoming Beijing 2008 Olympics, China has been under pressure to account for its human rights violations domestically as well as its involvement in support of the Khartoum government in Sudan. The Chinese government has tried to present China as a unified nation and has ignored its gross human rights abuses. On October 17, 2007, His Holiness XIV Dalai Lama was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the United States' highest civilian honor, by President Bush (probably the only good thing the President has and will ever do in his lifetime and although the two have met in private several times, this is the first time Bush has agreed to publicly do so). The Chinese government "called the ceremony an affront to the budding relations between the countries." While the Chinese government has attempted to paint His Holiness as a separatist, His Holiness strongly advocates for more democracy and meaningful autonomy in Tibet. The Chinese government has claimed that Tibet has always been a part of China even though all historical evidence proves otherwise.
In addition to the human rights and Geneva Convention violations that the Chinese government commits against the Tibetan people, China has implemented plans for complete ethnic/cultural genocide of the Tibetan people since China's unlawful invasion led by Mao Zedong in 1949. Some of the largest projects today that will result in this are the Quinghai-Tibet Railroad, already under construction, and the Quinghai Airport, both expected to bring in even larger numbers of Chinese into Tibet (where they currently outnumber Tibetans) and further eradicate Tibetan culture. The Chinese government states that the railroad's first run is good because "not only national pride is on the rise, but also infrastructure convenience for Sino-South Asian trade boom is largely improved" while admitting through its ambassadors that the TAR is the poorest region in China by far and contributes the least to China's economy. The Quinghai-Tibet Railroad will extend from Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), to Xigaze, near the boarders of India, Bhutan, and Nepal. The new line is expected to open in 2010 and carry seven million tons of cargo per year and eventually increase that amount to ten million tons at speeds of at least 120 km/h.

The opening of a new extension to this railroad, especially near these specific boarders, is crucial to the survival of the Tibetan people. Because of the legal system in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Tibetans attempting to flee the TAR (most heading to Dharamsala, India) can be arrested and imprisoned. If escaping Tibetans get out of the TAR and PRC and into Nepal, they can still be arrested until they can make it to Katmandu, Nepal’s capital, and obtain official refugee status. Without those papers, they can be arrested by Nepalese officials; under King Gyanendra’s rule, Nepal and the PRC were allies so Tibetans arrested by Nepalese police were routinely handed over to PRC officials (1). However, with Maoist rebels in Nepal becoming integrated in a new political system in Nepal after a ten year war, it appears as though the PRC is unsure of what the outcome will be and if it will be able to maintain that relationship with Nepal. On February 12, 2007, a report was released by the International Campaign for Tibet documenting the passage from the TAR into exile (2). In 2006, the issue received international attention when a 25 year old Tibetan nun and other unarmed civilians were shot attempting to make a pilgrimage to HH XIV Dalai Lama. With a new railway opening near the boarders of the countries that Tibetans flee into, the PRC will be able to arrest far more Tibetans without the help of Nepalese authorities.

This situation of the railroads is reminiscent of the American railroads into the Great Plains. The expansion of rail lines into the western part of the United States led to a tremendous influx of American settlers and led to the destruction of the American Indians and their cultures. There is much evidence to suggest that the same scenario is occurring presently within the TAR. When the Qinghai-Tibet railroad first began construction, it was expected to be a major transportation route for trade and tourists, thus making Tibetans minorities in their homeland and contributing to further destruction of their culture (3). The Qinghai-Tibet Railroad was simply another way for the PRC to try to destroy a group of people and a second line opening without substantial protest from the rest of the world will have horrible repercussions for the Tibetan people and the world will witness the preventable elimination of a unique group of people and their culture.

With the Beijing 2008 Olympics around the corner, the opportunity to confront China about its genocidal policies, both domestically in Tibet and abroad in Darfur, is clear and necessary to show the commitment a country makes when signing the Geneva Conventions and joining the United Nations. As an economic tiger that may soon overtake the United States as the leading global superpower, an unwavering commitment to human rights and democracy is needed now more than ever before. While the United Nations can enforce binding economic sanctions or follow Spain's brave example of prosecuting Chinese leaders for war crimes, the international community can no longer continue to ignore the worst genocide of modern times.

(1) Sarkar, Sudeshna. Telugu Portal, 2/9/07, “Richard Gere to Launch Report on Tibetan Exodus from China.”

(2) International Campaign for Tibet, 2/8/07, “New Report Documents Dangerous Flight into Exile for Tibetans.”

(3) Yardley, Jim. New York Times, September 15, 2003, “Trying to Reshape Tibet, China Sends in the Masses”

History 101 - Lessons of the Past

Boys and Girls, today in History 101 we are going to begin with the basics of how to understand historical mistakes and how not to repeat them. Due to recently escalating events in the Middle East, understanding the past mistakes is crucial to resolve conflicts in this region. Our case study for today is Iran. Let's begin with the historical events and then move to their implications in the modern day.

In March of 1951, Mohammad Mossadegh was democratically elected within the political structure of Iran and became prime minister. He enforced the Oil Nationalization Act, which involved the expropriation of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), a British company that monopolized Iran’s oil. Britain feared that Mossadegh was becoming too closely allied with Iran’s communist party, Tudeh, and that Soviet influence could spread to Iran. In 1952, British officials met with officials from the CIA and expressed Britain’s interest in a participating in a coup in Iran with the United States. In March of the following year, the CIA began to draft a plan called Operation AJAX that would overthrow Mossadegh and his administration through a covert action and establish a government that would cater to the United States and would remain open to British interests. Retired Iranian general Fazlolah Zahedi was chosen to be the replacement prime minister. In May of 1953, CIA officials in Tehran began a propaganda campaign against Mossadegh. On July 1, Churchill approved the final draft of the plan for the coup, and ten days later, U.S. President Eisenhower gave his approval. On August 15, the coup is begun but failed because Mossadegh had advanced warnings of a plot. Zahedi went into hiding and Shah Reza Pahlavi fled to Baghdad. On August 19, Zahedi led the coup while American CIA agents in Tehran created a riot against Tudeh and Mossadegh. The next day, Zahedi became Prime Minister, the Shah reassumed power, and members of Mossadegh’s government were in prison or in hiding. In 1954, the AIOC resumed its operations in Iran. Mossadegh was tried for treason, served three years in prison, and then placed under house arrest until his death on March 5, 1967.

The impact of the 1953 coup in Iran is extremely significant in assessing today’s strained relations with Iran. After the coup, Shah Reza Pahlavi regained power and became a puppet of the United States. Due to Iranians’ contempt for Pahlavi, a revolution broke out in 1979 that placed Ayatollah Khomeini in power. On November 4, 1979, militant students occupied the American embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The United States ended diplomatic relations with Iran on April 7, 1980. The Islamic Revolution in 1979 established the system of government Iran has today as well as gave way to the fundamentalist and conservative ideas embodied by the current Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran’s statements to the United States in regard to its nuclear program are clearly a reaction to the history of American and western manipulation in Iran as well as in the rest of the Middle East. As a result of American Cold War policy, Iran has a government the United States deems undemocratic and the country is impoverished due to control and manipulation of its economy and natural resources by the United States and its greatest ally, Britain. As Madeline Albright stated in March of 2000, “The Eisenhower administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons. But the coup was clearly a setback for Iran’s political development and it is easy to see why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America,” (Risen, How a Plot Convulsed in Iran in ’53 [and in ’79]).

With President Bush and Ahmadinejad’s hostility towards one another and Bush’s current regime change policies as exhibited by the invasion of Iraq, an American-led regime change in Iran appears more likely to occur, given that the tensions between each nation are similar to what they were in 1953. Such action would create further instability in the region as well as destroy any hope of improving relations and resolving conflicts diplomatically. Currently, Ahmadinejad has angered the United States and other nations such as the United Kingdom with its developing nuclear program. The United States wants Iran to abandon its program while Iran insists that the program is simply for peaceful energy uses. However, with the capture of an Iranian diplomat on February 4, 2007 by uniformed gunmen in Baghdad, his accusations of torture, as well as the capture and release of fifteen British sailors recently, tensions continue to escalate and, due to historical policies, Ahmadinejad is not willing to efficiently compromise and Bush is refusing to pursue any diplomacy with Iran.

This tension is especially significant given the foreign policy of the Bush administration. Diplomacy between the United States and Iran is gravely needed in order to establish trust, improve relations, and to reach a compromise. "JustForeignPolicy.org" says it best:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJRcOF7rEfQ


Now go tell Mommy and Daddy what you learned in school today.


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Works Cited/Consulted

Ahmadinejad’s ‘Gift’ to Britain. The WEEK. Volume 7, Issue 305. April 13, 2007. Page 4.

Barth, Linda. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2003. Pages 37 – 42.

Buncombe, Andrew. Freed Iranian Diplomat Claims He was Tortured by the CIA in Iraq. April 9, 2007. The Independent. April 10, 2007.

Gasiorowski, Mark J. Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2004. Pages 227 – 246.

Iran. October 2006. U.S. Department of State. April 11, 2007.

Iraq: Should the War Have an End Date?. The WEEK. Volume 7, Issue 305. April 13, 2007. Page 6.

Oren, Michael B. Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present. New York: Sike, Inc., 2007. Pages 479-483, 544-549.

Risen, James. How a Plot Convulsed in Iran in ’53 (and in ’79). 2000. The New York Times. April 10, 2007.

Secrets of History: The CIA in Iran. 2000. The New York Times. April 10, 2007.

Zabih, Sepehr. The Mossadegh Era: Roots of the Iranian Revolution. Chicago: Lake View Press, 1982. Pages 20 – 32.