End Game

(photo by Melinda Kolk)

So here we all are, ready for the Melbourne Cup tomorrow and then Wednesday will be the US elections and the whole world will be watching. There is a lot riding on this and we have been following this right from the start. We are so much more clued up than we used to be and we are taking a lively and considerable interest in overseas politics. About time. But we’ve had fun. It was great following the French election and then pretty sad France couldn’t put a woman in their top position. So then we thought, maybe America would and they went along with Hillary for some of the way and she was suddenly just out. Sarah Palin came in for a bit but has been losing ground faster than she gained it. So it’s pretty disappointing to see than women just cannot get to the finish line and then stay in power and be regarded as worthy of top positions. Women will fix that in time. Meanwhile our eyes are on John McCain and Barack Obama. Who is going to get into the White House? It is going to make quite an impact internationally whoever gets in there. That’s why we are watching.  The Australian has a Live Poll ready to go and I am really pleased about that because Australia has often made it hard to get overseas information. This is a great step forward to have us looking out onto the world. I just wish that America would respect its voters more and allow them to vote more comfortably. They really have to do the hard yards to put in their votes in those great long queues. It’s too long for people to be standing around. So, I wish them well and I look forward to seeing how it goes.

World loves Obama

World loves Obama – but they can’t vote | The Australian

For them, Senator Obama represents “a young, hopeful, multiracial society, an international creative child of Europe; useful, energetic”.

I think perhaps that the criticism of us in America is unwarranted. There seems to be a belief, according to this article, that we don’t actually know what we are talking about. The world is very clued up politically at the moment and so it should be. We need to be clued up. We have woken up to ourselves and that can only further us. So we have done our homework and we have done a lot of thinking and discussing. This is as a result of having first Hillary Clinton there as a candidate and now Barack Obama. He is American. We know he is American but he at least represents an intelligent, animated, thoughtful, international and modern America. He is refreshing. He is also very inspiring. What America needs to know from us is that he has the capacity to change the image of America and already has. America needs a different image internationally because although we have good ties and relations with a lot of Americans, its image internationally is not a good one and that is not because of its people , it is because of its government. We see Barack Obama as someone we can relate to and talk to and his popularity spans all age groups. That is pretty amazing. I have never known any overseas politician to generate so much enthusiasm. That has to be of benefit to an ailing geopolitical structure. We need people who can create hope and goodwill…those things we had forgotten about. We also need people who can think, talk and have good interpersonal relations. Of course he will have his weak points, but he is part of a team. It is important to the rest of the world that they have an America they can relate to and include. As it stands there is America and the rest of the world. Individuals engage with each other and can work together but on an international front America is on its own because that is what Mr. Bush wanted. In Obama Barack we see someone unique who will be able to relate to all sorts of people and all sorts of nationalities. It would make a difference .

Beware the Lurkers

There is a Victorian saying which goes something along the lines of : “It’s not the knocking at the door which should worry you, but the serpent which slithers under it” and it would appear Barack Obama is aware of this judging by this article. He is dealing with the door knockers. He is dealing with what is out there and in front of him and he appears to be doing that well. In this article he refers to the last minute unknown quantities which he and his voters will need to manage. Oh yes, there will be lurkers in the wings. This is a hard fought election and it won’t be won until whoever is in the White House is in the White House and maybe we’ll be wondering how on earth they got there. There are all sorts of things which this article discusses which could throw the election. Throw it? Are the Americans not sure what they want by now? The French election was hotly contested right to the last but then the two candidates were a tough match for each other and each had their strengths to offer. France went with Sarkoszy and inherited Carla Bruni along with him in the end and she spends a lot of time being interviewed on the European circuit and has eclipsed him in many ways. With Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain, well, there is not much to compare. John McCain is 72 and wouldn’t remain as President. Ms. Palin side tracked us for a while there and was pulled out of the hat, but she no longer has any appeal. Barack Obama continues to impress and so it is important that if the Americans want him to be President they will have to manage whatever comes in from the left field and the article suggests some pretty severe stuff. That is what America needs to get rid of. The fear fest. People should be able to compete on their merits not their trickery and treachery or well timed events. Surely the Americans are not hat easily put off track?

Will he make it to the finish line?

Barack Obama seems to be on a roll. He seems to be the right person at the right time. Will the Democrats stay on their toes and get him over the line? Will the Whitehouse have a poodle? Will the Americans be able celebrate equity along with everything else by allowing Barack Obama to be their president. 17 days and counting. Change would allow the Americans a chance to have a makeover which they are due for it and they know it. They need someone who is enthusiastic. They need someone who is flexible. They need someone who has the energy to put the life back into them. Barack Obama has done amazingly well because he has certainly had some tough challenges along the way. Really tough. He has survived them and he is still talking and thinking. He appears to be able to deal with thee things which fly in form the left field and he has a lot of support both in America and overseas. That is important. America needs someone who can reconnect with the other countries around the world and it needs someone who can connect with a complex world. Barack Obama has the background which wil enable him to negotiate with a whole range of people and that is important. I am sure some more tricks will come out of the bag, but I think Americans are over tricks and they just want to get on with their lives and they want to see their country thrive and do well alongside other countries. This last few days will be tough. Will he make it over the line. We’ll all be watching.

Yes We Care

Image via Wikipedia“He makes me think of America the myth, the land of the free, the way it thinks of itself but doesn’t often behave,” she said.

This is unbelievable. This is different. We have got Australians who feel so strongly that they can identify with Barack Obama as the president of a country we have such a long association with, that they are prepared to go over to America and do whatever the Barack Obama campaign offices need. This is such an amazing thing. There are young ones and political veterans and they are doing it for the same reason I am doing this I guess. We need an America with a person who is approachable and who can work with the world. We need someone who can talk and engage with others. Whether Americans want that is another matter. It is their country, but surely they must be tired of Mr. Bush spending all their money overseas funding destructive initiatives? Barack Obama is popular here and it’s because you sense he does care and that he can hold a proper conversation with anyone. He doesn’t appear to be short of words or capacity to empathise. Facebook has a Yes We Care group which was founded by an Australian and it is going really well. We want to see America do well so we are barracking for Barack! Can you believe that? Yes We Care.

Nobel Prize Anti US bias

Image via WikipediaThere is an article which claims there is an anti US bias in the Nobel Literature prizes. If you google Nobel prize winners for America an Australia, America has 72 awesome Nobel Prize winners and that is only up to the 1960s! Australia has 10! In all the years for all the prizes so you could more easily claim that the Nobel Prize has an anti Australian bias. The literature winners are here and we are talking profoundly inspired people . Authors who have had such a profound impact on the world as well as literature. The good thing about our world is that different cultures inspire and develop different things. For the Americans to have had so many Nobel Prize winners overall is something to be proud of . The claims discussed in this article seem silly really when you look at the facts and the incredible achievements of Nobel Prize winners.

Australian Emigration

Image via WikipediaOver 75,000 people left Australia last year, with the biggest numbers going to NZ and UK and then US, Hong Kong and Singapore. It’s hard to know why but the comments on the article tend to suggest it is work and study opportunities, housing and lifestyle which are taking people out of the country. It is bound to be complex and you cannot just take these figures on face value.Fortunately there is some pretty pertinent and broad ranging discussion on this issue and that is important. Australians have always gone overseas to work and live because it’s the way to broaden their horizons and knowledge.A lot of them come back and are currently coming back because it is better here, so they say. leaving and living elsewhere makes them realise what possibilities there are. It would be interesting to know if the percentage leaving is the same because we have a bigger population now. I don’t think they can do it to escape the HECS debt form their tertiary studies. I believe that has been stopped. Some students don’t’ actually realise what the HECS debt means and so it would come as a shock to be in that much debt at the end of a course of study.The job market is hard because a well credentialled graduate is put into the same bowl as someone who has had part time casual work and those who have a lot of industry experience trying to get the same position. Work experience is considered to be more important than learning and knowledge so graduates are not encouraged and mentored into the job market as they were before and trying to get an interview from a selection of 60 or more applicants at a mass interview is not very productive or encouraging …so yes, I can well see why the brains would be leaving us to get a better go elsewhere.