Ben Heine on Art Limited

What Next ?

Ben Heine — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:19:18 GMT

Bush Administration's legacy to Barack Obama... It's A Small World After All By Greg Peel (FN Arena News) This weekend in Washington saw a meeting of what is known as the "Group of 20" nations - those representing the most powerful economies in the world. It's a little bit of a misnomer, as the G20 is actually 19 nations plus the European Union. The European Union itself consists of 27 nations, although just to confuse the issue there is cross-over. Meetings of the G20 are not common, and one can imagine that getting 20 countries to agree on something over a weekend is no small task. More common are meetings of the G7 - the most powerful among the powerful. The G7 consists of the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, The United Kingdom and Canada. To bring that up to the G20, we add Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey, and the European Union. The European Union consists of 27 countries which trade as a bloc, and as a bloc the EU has an economy greater than that of the US. Of the 27 members only 15 have adopted the euro as their currency. Germany, France, Italy and the UK are all members, so by adding the EU to the G19 you add Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. In other words, 42 nations were represented in Washington, one way or another, representing about 90% of the world economy. The reason they were there is because the world's economy is in dire straits. Prior to the meeting we learnt that Europe is the first to officially record a recession - being two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. It is actually the 15 members of the euro currency which have collectively fallen into recession, posting negative 0.2% growth in the third quarter following the same result in the second. The full EU also posted a negative 0.2% figure but was on zero in the second quarter. The biggest economy within the EU - Germany - saw a negative 0.2% following a negative 0.4% previously. The second biggest - the UK - saw an ominous 0.5% drop following a zero result previously. Let's not get hung up on the definition - Europe is in recession. That Europe should be the first major economy to enter recession is illustrative of why the G20 saw urgent cause to meet in Washington on the weekend. For we all know that the real problem is derived in the US - creator of the subprime mortgage, the CDO, the CDS, and forty times leverage for investment banks. But in today's financial world interconnectivity ensures that no significant economy can operate in isolation. The world has weaved a tangled web. No economy can be spared the ramifications of the actions of others. We all now appreciate the common chaos theory adage that a butterfly flapping its wings in South America can cause a typhoon in Japan (or variations on that theme). If the theory needed any proof then it has come in the knowledge that an unemployed garbage collector defaulting on a mortgage he should never have been given in Jacksonville Florida in early 2007 has led to the UK seeing negative GDP growth of 0.5% in the September quarter of 2008. The global financial crisis of the twenty-first century is a result of the rapid movement into the Third Age of modern mankind. The Agricultural Revolution brought about the First Age of civilisation some eight thousand years ago, leading to the creation of democracy and the rise and fall of mighty empires. The Industrial Revolution ushered in the Second Age in the late nineteenth century. Therein followed two world wars and, in between, the Great Depression. By late in the twentieth century we were experiencing the Information Revolution - that of the internet and ever-increasing computer power in ever-decreasing chips. This is the Third Age, and it is this age that more than ever before has connected the world through a web of information channels. Perhaps Sir Walter Scott might look down and suggest an amendment to his famous poem - "Oh what a tangled world-wide web we weave". The Information Age has allowed world trade to expand at a rapid pace, allowed for developed nations to outsource their manufacturing and service centre bases to emerging nations, and allowed large financial institutions to transcend borders. The "developed" world has expanded and homogenised, and inextricably interconnected. Little did Joseph Heller realise when he wrote his iconic Catch-22 that the line "What's good for M & M Enterprises is good for the country" would still be able to be satirically applied today. Heller lampooned the shortcomings of "modern" capitalism back in 1961, highlighting a self-feeding economic circle. The collapse of the world economy in 2008 has close correlation with the collapse of M & M Enterprises. Prior to September 2008, the world was still hanging on to a notion that the global economy remained divided along distinct lines. It was first thought in 2007 that the "subprime crisis" would be contained in the US. When the situation became more worrying, the International Monetary Fund concluded that Europe and even Japan would rise to balance the economic problems in the US, and it was a common assumption that the booming Chinese economy was "decoupled" from the US. Australia took much solace in the latter, being more worried about too-rapid economic growth in early 2008 than ever contemplating recession. It took the fall of Lehman Bros to prove everyone wrong, but if it hadn't have been Lehmans then some other event would have at some point inevitably triggered the financial market implosion of the last three months. The world now faces recession, of that there is little disagreement. And the world now realises the extent of global financial connectivity that transcends old-world concepts of nation-states and borders. To address the problem, and to ensure it never happens again, a globally coordinated plan is needed. Enter the G20. Rome was neither built nor dismantled in a day, and nor was the G20 ever going to solve the world's problems in a weekend. However, the first step towards the solution of any problem is recognising there is one, and the hasty organisation of a G20 meeting is testament to just that. It would have been easy to turn the meeting into a US-bashing fest, if one assumes the heart of the problem lies in the world's most powerful individual economy, but it would not have been helpful. To be helpful the G20 needed to acknowledge that a new global order needs to be established - a united regulation of the global economy. That, at least, had to be the second step. The first was to react immediately to the problem at hand and prevent further economic collapse. Again, it was never going to be possible to draw up a consummate plan of global attack among twenty representatives in one weekend. Thus with the UK prime minister Gordon Brown taking a leading role, the G20 nations collectively agreed to continue to stimulate their own economies individually as the most effective means of preventing further hardship. Stimulation would be both fiscal - pumping government money into the economy - and monetary - cutting interest rates. This is exactly what everyone has been doing anyway but whereas previously it was a case of "follow the leader" now all have agreed in the merit of such policy and thus can feel comforted to keep up the good work as part of a team effort. In short, all members agreed to keep doing "whatever it takes". To address the second step, it had to first be decided just who was to blame for the global economic crisis. No doubt there would have been small groups happy to point the finger squarely at the US over informal drinkies, but given the US dollar is the agreed reserve currency and no country can honestly say they are completely blameless in letting it get to this point there was little to be gained from playground behaviour. To that end, it was agreed by the end of the summit that "policy-makers, regulators, and supervisors in some advanced countries" were the culprits. In other words, "us". With that established, the next task was to figure out how to prevent the disaster ever happening again. Meetings of the G20 and even the G7 are notorious for achieving a lot of talk and a little action, and usually the sort of "agreeing to move forward with unbinding commitments" type rhetoric that Sir Humphrey Appleby would have been most proud to have drafted. One only need take the example of the World Trade Organisation - of a similar membership - and the infamous "Doha round" of trade talks which have continued unresolved for seven years. And so like guilty school children, this time the G20 agreed upon what is loosely a six-point plan of immediate action, or at least immediate action in the form of an agenda for reform to be ratified at the next summit, planned for March 31. Between now and then the details will be honed. Like any summit of world-leaders, this plan was drafted before anyone actually arrived. It just needed a collective stamp of approval. The first step is an agreement to complete the Doha round of trade talks by the end of the year. Thereafter things get a bit hazier, but include better risk management practices at banks, accounting standards to be put in place to account for notorious "off-balance sheet vehicles", standards to address the conflict of interest of ratings agencies (which advise on the creation of instruments they then rate, and profit from the practice), the development of a clearing house for credit default swaps (already underway in the US) and an assessment of the adequacy of hedge fund best practises, which will prove the first step towards regulation of the global hedge fund industry. Perhaps the most significant step, nevertheless, was agreement on the creation of a "college" of supervisors of the world's biggest banks. The college will be drawn from regulators of many countries. This is an acknowledgement that the global financial market has, as always, moved ahead of the regulators, and as always regulation needs to catch up. This time that catch-up will be globally coordinated and overseen. Homogenous global regulation for a homogenous global financial market. Agreement to act on such measures in time for the next summit in March was enough for host George Bush to declare the G20 meeting a great success. Bush would have no doubt hoped to have left such a legacy, for it will be Barack Obama in the chair at the next meeting, and a Democratic Congress that leads the charge on the wider agenda of reforms. Those reforms have been tabled as a total of 47 action items in eight pages of the official document released after the summit. Their focus is to establish a series of new safeguards for the fragile and opaque global financial system. The attempt therein is to better flag risky practices and shortcomings in regulation so that the domino effect of corporate failure cannot again lead to such an economic disaster as has been experienced in 2008. The G20 wants to keep a strict eye on South American butterflies. George Bush was also pleased that the plans suggested at the summit did not amount to an attempt to undermine the fundamentals of free market capitalism per se. However, by its very definition free market capitalism can never be fully controlled. Regulation will always chase market practice - practice that is questionable in retrospect but nevertheless legal at the time. The market also fears a swing back to over-regulation - regulation that might be socially laudable in its intent but economically stifling in its application. Wall Street did not respond favourably ahead of the meeting, falling sharply on Friday. But little can be drawn from the move, given squaring up on a Friday has become common practice and given the present lack of participants means sharp falls can occur in ten minutes flat. Such moves are not reliably representative of more general sentiment. The global market knows it will take time for the G20's actions to bear fruit, and the immediate plan of doing "whatever it takes" (fiscal and monetary stimulus) implies to some there is no immediate coordinated plan at all. But either way the great deleveraging process continues and that has not been forced by any global government regulation. It has been forced by free market capitalism at work. The focus is now on the global economy and just how bad things might yet get. If "whatever it takes" does manage to put a floor under markets from here, the next problem is just how quickly economic growth can return if weighed down by the sort of over-zealous regulation that may ultimately result from this first G20 gathering. There are few who would not agree that "something had to be done", other than those who believe the only solution is to let global chaos run its full course - the ultimate purge. But among those appreciating the need for reform, it then becomes a case of balance. As the history of modern mankind has passed through each of the previous Ages, there has been disruption. Disruption that requires a long process to reach resolution, if ever at all. The Third Age will prove no different. ------------------- --> This analysis appeared on http://www.fnarena.com

Mother Africa

Ben Heine — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:05:55 GMT

Strong Hands of Mother Africa By J. Joy “Sistah Joy” Matthews Alford Strong hands of Mother Africa Awaken places deep inside me Where my ancestors dwell Like distant echoes, your heart-beat Reverberates off Kilimanjaro’s mountain-tops Pulses down the Nile Crosses the Sudan And flows into my soul Strong hands of Mother Africa Call my absent spirit To return and commune with the elders Those who sojourned before me Now light my path and Await my homecoming Strong hands of Mother Africa Reveal to me my history Teach me the ways of my true homeland; Unmask the mysteries and tragedies Of this altered consciousness Awaken in my mind and body The un-ripened seeds of truth, Power, and pride Solve for me the paradox of my mortality. Strong hands of Mother Africa My soul dances to your ancient rhythm Pulsing, ever pulsing, through the veins of time Teach me to beat Africa drums So that I, too, may guide Another absent spirit to your shores So that I, too may guide another absent spirit Home! -------------------- --> The poem appeared on http://authorsden.com/

Global Crisis

Ben Heine — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:56:56 GMT

Global Recession - Is it Possible? By http://www.nextwave.org “The world economy is now entering a major downturn in the face of the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the 1930s,” claims the International Monetary Fund (imf.org). It appears that the IMF, the European Union, and World Bank have been quite busy bailing out one country or another. The latest $25 billion financing package for Hungary comes on the heels of two other financing packages distributed as emergency loans to Iceland and the Ukraine. These countries are dealing with their own problems of oversees borrowing and rapid credit growth. The IMF has a $200 billion loanable fund and other resources from which to draw to stem the fallout from the global financial turmoil. The IMF works by parachuting in when a member country faces extenuating circumstances that threaten its financial stability. A rapid response is needed to contain the damage to the country or the international monetary system. Judging by all the money loaned out so far, there’s indication that some countries are either in a recession or tipping into one. In early October, the world’s central banks administered emergency measures, including a round of coordinated interest rate cuts. If that weren’t enough, the financial turmoil is already beginning to slow growth in some emerging markets, such as China. When emerging and developing economies are feeling the impact of the global financial crisis, it is an indicator of a major slowdown in the global economy. This, coupled with global growth slowing down sharply, all point to a global recession. The following are some of the factors that can cause crises in emerging countries: collapse of export prices drastic increase in import prices anemic foreign investments and capital flows large depreciation or devaluation of the currency of a close trading partner. In this case, the U.S. sharp increase in interest rates in world markets. Despite China’s emerging role as the main cog in the world economy (it accounted for one-third of global GDP growth in the first half of this year), its economy is struggling. It is being hit by events in overseas markets to which it sells - namely the U.S. The IMF said the U.S. crisis is likely to lead to “severe and protracted economic downturns around the world”. According to its report, World Economic Outlook, it now expects world growth to slow to three percent in 2009. We don’t want to waste our energy at finger-pointing, but it is without a doubt that the global financial crisis emanates from the U.S. The economic consequences resulting from the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market have spread beyond our American shores. This collapse has triggered a series of bankruptcies, forced mergers, and public interventions in the United States and Western Europe. As a result, the interbank markets have locked up, as trustworthiness in their counterparts have evaporated into thin air. The world’s seven largest industrial market economies (G7) - the United States, Canada, Britain, Japan, Germany, France, and Italy- are either in a recession or slowly tipping into one. Some European countries have had their own housing and credit booms that have gone into reverse. The housing correction is beginning in the U.S., with the liklihood that it might be prolonged, but Europe’s correction began later and so will have a long way to go. Japan’s economy initially showed more resilience but has recently been affected by slowing exports while its consumer demand has weakened. As the currency falls for countries such as Spain and Ireland, the burden of their foreign debt increases and so does the risk of defaults. All of this is dampened by high oil prices, tightening credit conditions, and the appreciating euro. Several economies depend on exports to the United States and Europe. These countries, which may also have current-account surpluses, are suffering from the G7 recession. They include China, most of Asia, and other emerging countries, such as Brazil and Russia. Countries that are part of Eastern Europe, which have large current-account deficits, are also suffering from the global credit crunch. These global problems require global solutions, and that is why the round of simultaneous interest rate cuts from central banks including the Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve, and the European Central Bank were necessary. It’s batton down the hatches for everyone. -------------------------- -------------------------- Leaders Vow to Tackle Economic Crisis By David Ellis G-20 agrees to stimulate economies and bolster financial market rules - sets agenda ahead of another meeting after Obama takes office. WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- World leaders unveiled a set of sweeping plans on Saturday aimed at tackling the ever-expanding economic crisis, but as expected they sketched out an agenda for more work in coming months and another meeting early next year. Following a two-day meeting in Washington, D.C., presidents and prime ministers from Group of 20 countries managed to find some common ground on both the causes of the crisis and areas that need to be fixed. G-20 leaders said they would meet again by the end of April to review the progress on the initiatives announced Saturday. President Bush, who is set to depart the White House in a little more than two months from now, characterized the summit as "very productive" but was quick to point out that much work lay ahead. "All this is an important first step," Bush said at the conclusion of the conference. "In other words, this is a beginning of a series of meetings." In the meantime, leaders said they would continue to work toward stimulating economic demand. The final 3,600-word announcement endorsed several stimulative measures, including interest rate cuts by central banks around the globe or potential economic stimulus packages. They added that they would boost developing countries struggling under the weight of the crisis. That could entail funneling additional funds to the International Monetary Fund. The group also called for regulators to improve oversight of credit rating agencies and to take swift action to minimize the risk of the giant and largely unregulated market of credit default swaps - complex financial instruments whose proliferation some say poses a great danger to financial stability. Leaders agreed not to raise new trade barriers over the next 12 months and vowed to reach a resolution on the Doha trade talks, which were launched in 2001 to help liberalize trade international trade policies. They pushed existing global organizations including the Financial Stability Forum, which represents central bankers and regulators, and the International Monetary Fund, to take a greater role in the current crisis, while helping to identify potential risks going forward. Saturday's announcement also included guidance for regulatory agencies, which some experts have faulted for not stopping the crisis before it got out of hand. Regulators and finance ministers were encouraged to: * create "supervisory colleges" for major financial institutions that do business around the world; * to work toward aligning global accounting standards; * take a hard look at compensation policies; and * identify companies that are critical to the global financial system. World leaders stopped short of attacking free-market principles, as some feared would happen. "It went as far as it should have gone," said Raghuram Rajan, a professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, who served as the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund between 2003 and 2006. "It [the agreement] contains all that could be reasonably expected from such a reasonably quick gathering." A starting point Some observers had characterized the summit as "Bretton Woods II" - a nod to a similar global economic summit held in July 1944 to reverse some of the painful trade and foreign exchange policies enacted in the wake of the Great Depression. But in the days leading up to the talks, there was widespread speculation that leaders would simply narrow the focus for future talks given competing agendas among some of the attendees and the conspicuous absence of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama at the summit. In his place, Obama sent former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Jim Leach, a former Republican congressman from Iowa. "There is one president at a time, so the president-elect asked us to represent him in receiving the views of these important partners," Albright and Leach said in a statement late Saturday. "We also conveyed President-elect Obama's determination to continuing to work together on these challenges after he takes office in January." Attendees, including UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, seemed convinced that Obama would not undermine the progress made during the weekend talks when leaders meet again. "What we decided today - to use fiscal measures to stimulate demand, and all countries signed up - is very much in line with what Obama said he would do," said Brown. Attending the summit were leaders from 19 of the world's largest economies including China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Japan, as well as the European Union. Combined the G-20 represents 90 percent of the world's economy and 75 percent of the global population. A world of trouble To be sure, the pace of the world's financial problems - rooted in large part in the collapse of the U.S. housing market and the risky lending and borrowing that went along with it - have accelerated in recent weeks. Major indexes around the globe have fallen off a cliff over the last two months. The Russian stock market has lost 65.5% of its value since the start of the year. Stocks in Japan and the United States have been equally hard hit, falling 42% and 33%, respectively. In Europe, the pain has been particularly acute. The European Union on Friday officially declared that the 15-nation group had entered into a recession, with its gross domestic product declining 0.2% for the second straight quarter. And other countries have nearly collapsed under the weight the economic crisis. In Iceland, where the government intervened to save the banking system from total failure, inflation is running at a painful 12.1% while economic growth has nearly flatlined. Hoping to halt the contagion, central bankers and government officials have taken unprecedented steps in recent weeks. Britain, France and the United States have bought ownership stakes in banks and pumped them full of capital in the hopes of unlocking frozen credit markets. Earlier this week, China unveiled a massive, $585 billion economic stimulus package to try to keep its once red-hot economy moving forward. ------------------ --> This news article appeared on http://money.cnn.com/

Justyna

Ben Heine — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:32:02 GMT

A Wild Woman By Ivona Sophia She’s glancing at the reflection in the mirror, at the same place holding her images even when she’s not there. Merging with an old, fat sofa on three legs and an artificial one made of a few criminals and one dictionary growing thicker with dust and thicker skin from fresh remorse. While putting on a new pair of nylons, she’s inhaling another chapter of a soap opera life. Armed with blood-red lipstick and a twenty dollar bill, she is out for bingo. ------------- --> The poem appeared on www.poetry-club.com PS : This is an unfinished watercolour painting

African Continent

Ben Heine — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:44:02 GMT

Ode To An Elephant By Marjorie DeNaut Abner Oh magnificent giant of the jungle Born with tusks of ivory Instead of your protection They threaten your extinction The circus is in town Remember most the elephants Instead of the Clowns Entering the tent with an overwhelming rush Gliding smoothly whisper soft across the ground Your great strength and wisdom Put to use extricating woods of value So deep within the forest With love and protection for your family Let this generation not to be known To allow your demise Like the dinosaur don't become Just a figure in a museum Or a picture in a book Silence forever the poacher's gun Let the elephant be the one who won! ------------------ --> The poem appeared on http://www.poemhunter.com

Economic Crisis in the US

Ben Heine — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:38:04 GMT

Is it the end of Capitalism?

Barack Obama US President

Ben Heine — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:33:03 GMT

Why I decided to vote for Obama By Alix Bryan http://www.peacescooter.com/ Here it is the eve of a historic election. For so many people, 1.20.09 is a very important date--but not if we don't vote wisely. What is voting wisely? The ability to see beyond propaganda, party lines, and America's borders. Voting wisely is to first sit quietly and ask yourself what you want our future to look like. After lengthy deliberation, I decided to endorse Barack Obama--just about 6 weeks ago. I met thousands of wonderful Americans while traveling 22,000 miles on a historic Peace ride. I chose to steer our conversations away from politics, because they are often divisive; instead I emphasized how important it is for each individual to know exactly what they want for themselves, their community and their country. And what they are willing to give to see those beliefs take root. Our visions our powerful. A personal ideology and daily action within one's community is imperative. I consider voting a very, very small part of my duty as a citizen in a democratic republic. What our government does during the next two or four or eight years is largely a function of what we do, not just of whom we elect. What many of you told me was that you came out to support the Peace ride because I wasn't angry. I wasn't pointing fingers. I wasn't criticizing you for your beliefs. One of the people who joined me at the end of the ride, in Washington D.C., was a son in a long lineage of soldiers--whose ancestors are buried at Arlington Cemetery. He said he joined me that special day because of my declaration that our fate depends on us, not just those in charge and that anger is not what fosters change. Obama has this leadership quality. He has run his campaign with more integrity than McCain. At first, I feared Obama was full of empty rhetoric. I did my research. A person who tells you Obama is not experienced enough has not done their research, nor utilized critical thinking to weigh in all the factors. Just because someone might have more experience does not mean they have the character for such an esteemed position. Obama has both. Think about how great it would be to have an eloquent, passionate, level headed President speak for our country. It is not just rhetoric, Obama inspires people, he gives us hope. Our country needs that now. Our world needs that now. How wonderful would it be to have a diplomat in the office? Someone who will use force if needed, but also understands a greater power--the dialogue it takes to reach common ground. It is not a sign of weakness to confront your alleged enemies. For all religious fans--it is what your God teaches. People think pacifism is easy and weak. Folks, that's silly. It takes a lot of effort to develop and maintain relationships, especially with people who hold different beliefs. It is a skill McCain does not have. In this age of globalization, it will be required for us to co-exist with others. Yes, McCain has experience. He is experienced in an old paradigm of thought which can not lead us into a better future. He has hundreds of lobbyists working for him. Obama's campaign does not. McCain was in the bottom 5th of his class. If you have been unhappy with President Bush's leadership, remember that he too had experience, as well as bad grades in college. Beware the hysteria, friends. Think about the facts. Think about the anger and lies that have come from McCain. Think about his age. Think about the severe lack of experience his VP has. She was chosen to attract female voters. The gamble that his campaign took when choosing Palin is indicative of the risky, impulsive behavior McCain will continue to make if elected President. The greater American public aren't just ready for change, they are changing. In the past 8 years, we have just collectively witnessed an American decay. Logically, at this point in our history, with our power, money and experience, this country should be better poised to better serve its citizens and lead the world. Instead, we have witnessed an erosion of the Constitution, our economic system, and our international standing. I spoke with my mother the other day. Sadly, she lost half of her savings in the market crash. On top of that, she is paying her taxpayer money towards the very people who gambled with her money. On top of that, her health care expenses will be raised in 2009. She has worked hard her whole life. She now has cancer, and she is, point blank, screwed. She is the great all American statistic that candidates court. With great sadness I find that most of my family are voting opposite of me. We go over the list of things that are wrong, and they agree. They agree about McCain's character and policy flaws. But they can't break free of their thinking. I'm asking you to do so. And to tell others how important it is that the election be won by a Democratic landslide. In years past, I voted, or considered a third party vote. But this year, I want a landslide. I want Obama to win overwhelmingly. I quote David Swanson here, because he says it best. "I want the Republican Party put out of business. If you want to build a new party, what better breakthrough could you ask for than eliminating the Republican Party? That process will be well underway if the Democrats win the House and Senate seats that optimists predict, and if the presidential election is a popular and electoral landslide. I want that landslide understood as a landslide for peace and against Republican war mongering. It can be understood as such despite Obama's own support for war, because most Americans are unaware of that. In the simplest terms, McCain has been labeled the war candidate and Obama the peace candidate. We can better seize on that and compel Obama to actually be a peace president if he wins overwhelmingly. I understand that Bush claimed a mandate on the basis of the narrowest conceivable (and not even true) victory, but his supporters control the media. To claim a mandate, Obama needs a landslide. And if the Democrats take large majorities in both houses, including 60 or more senate seats (possibly including one or two independents caucusing with the Democrats), then Emanuel's excuse strategy evaporates. If the majority of Americans demand something, the Democrats will have to either deliver or admit to not being democrats with a small d. If Obama does not win a landslide over McCain, I will be ashamed to show my face abroad; I want this as a message to the world." I've been volunteering for the Obama campaign, and I tell people on the other end of the phone; "thanks for listening for just three minutes. Our time is precious, yes, but think about how much of it we willingly waste each day. Think about the greater things we have to lose in this election and sacrifice just three minutes of your time to listen, think and teach others." I am not in any way glorifying Obama's entire platform. I simply would rather see him in the White House than McCain--and I'm taking an hour of my time to write this to you. To beg and plead with you to put aside your fears, your stubborn allegiance to third parties that won't win, and take off your Republican hats. People say there isn't too much difference between the two parties anymore anyhow--so why not vote for the man who visibly handles himself with more integrity than McCain? Please, get out there and vote, but remember how easy it is to do things that are fare more important on the other 729 days every two years. Vote with your heart and your head. The times- they are always a changing, but sometimes that change comes from the people and sometimes it's forced upon us. Together, let's create the world we are prepared to handle.

Put the Volume Up !

Ben Heine — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:28:33 GMT

The Pulse Beat of Life By Darrell The sound of music drifts into the street, the beat beat beat, crowds of faces come and go, drifting along with the night’s flow, some feel high, some feel low, some are here to put on a show, others are just trying to let go, some are looking for someone to know, someone to hold, to feel less cold, but they all just tryin to walk life’s long road. ----------------- --> The poem appeared on http://visionofspirit.gaia.com/ PS : This is a photo I took by night in the centre of Brussels.

Good Morning, Midnight

Ben Heine — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:24:11 GMT

When Night is Almost Done By Emily Dickinson When Night is almost done, And Sunrise grows so near That we can touch the Spaces, It's time to smooth the Hair And get the Dimples ready, And wonder we could care For that old faded Midnight That frightened but an Hour. ------------- --> The poem appeared on http://www.bartleby.com --> "Good Morning, Midnight" is the title of another poem by Emily Dickinson : http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/emilydickinson/10377 PS : This is a photo I took by night in the centre of Brussels.