Problems such as dictators and/or terrorists

Why do we have so many problems in the world such as dictators and/or terrorists?

In my opinion many of these problems are related to our education system or lack of one around the world.

In many countries, not every person even has access to yet the basic education. In some countries education is misused, either to grow a workforce whose sole purpose is to serve the money making industry. Others use education to subdue their citizen’s mind so that their citizen will follow their government without question.

Though in my opinion, education should be an opportunity to teach and encourage independent thinking and judgment.

However, in today’s world we do not give our children a broad education anymore. Our schools often do not teach subjects such as world history, social science, anthropology, philosophy and other humanitarian subjects in depth anymore. Instead we focus on a specialized goal such as technology, medicine, or any subject that will lead us to a good paying job rather than to a well rounded person who has the knowledge to make wise decisions for his or her life.

I know the subject school and education is not simple and I could spend pages on pages writing about it. However, if we continue to neglect the education of our children, we will have ever more problems with poverty, radical ideologies and terrorism in the future.

Why do so many people give their life for an ideology?

Is it possible that they have lost hope of a brighter future on this earth?

No education, no job, not food!

Ideologies are placed in the heads by those who use these desperate individuals for their cause.

Stop thinking so much about how much money you could make and start thinking about how you can make this world a place where people respect each other for who they are, not how much money they have!

CNN Obama and minority journalists part2

CNN Obama and minority journalists part1

Barack Obama at 10 Downing Street, London

No transcript for this press-conference.

A picture really is, sometimes, worth a thousand words.

Feeling of excitement during a John McCain speech.

by http://www.democraticunderground.com

Barack Obama in Paris

The following is a transcript of only Senator Barack Obama's part during the French President Nicolas Sarkozy Press Conference in Paris, as provided by Federal News Service, Inc.

SEN. OBAMA: ... I don't know whether people are aware that when President Sarkozy went to Washington -- he wasn't yet elected as president -- he met with only two United States senators. That was me and John McCain. (Laughter.) So I would suggest that for the reporters in the room, if you want to know something about elections, you should talk to the president of France. (Laughter.) He seems to have a good nose for how things play out.

I obviously am -- am very appreciative of President Sarkozy's long-standing commitment to strengthen the bilateral relationship between France and the United States and to enhance transatlantic relations as a whole. He has been a great leader on this, and the American people greatly appreciate President Sarkozy's approach to the relationship between our two countries. When he came -- as president, now -- to speak, he was treated like a rock star. Everybody loved him. And I think it was after that that everybody decided to call French fries "French fries" again in the -- (laughter) -- in the cafeteria.

But I share his view that the United States and Europe can and will accomplish far more when we join in common cause. And today we reviewed some of the key goals that the United States and France can work together towards. First, we discussed some of the common security challenges that we face, including peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which is obviously so important to all of us.

We discuss Iraq, and I gave my impressions about the improved situation there.

We discussed Afghanistan, which is absolutely critical. And I thanked President Sarkozy and the people of France for the extraordinary commitment. While I was in Afghanistan, the NATO commanders, the U.S. commanders on the ground all expressed great admiration and appreciation for the wonderful work that the French troops are doing in Afghanistan.

And we talked about Iran which, we agree, is an extraordinarily grave situation. President Sarkozy and I agree that the world must send a clear message to Iran to end its illicit nuclear program.

A nuclear-armed Iran would pose a grave threat to both our nations. And it would endanger Israel and the rest of the region and could embolden terrorists and spark a dangerous arms race in the Middle East.

So I applaud France's current role in the EU-3 plus three efforts to use strong diplomacy to end this threat. It's important, as we move forward, for the United States and our European allies to remain full partners in this effort.

And that's why I'm glad that the United States assigned Bill Burns, who is an outstanding diplomat, to participate in the current talks that are taking place.

And my expectation is that we're going to present a clear choice to Iran. Change your behavior and you will be fully integrated into the international community, with all the benefits that go with that. Continue your illicit nuclear program, and the international community as a whole will ratchet up pressure, with stronger and increased sanctions.

And we should have no illusion that progress will come easily. But we should -- I do want to make this point. Iran should accept the proposals that President Sarkozy and the EU-3 plus three are presenting now. Don't wait for the next president, because the pressure I think is only going to build.

Now, this is part of the broader security agenda that we both care about, so we talked about Afghanistan. And again I think President Sarkozy's step, to greater integration with NATO, is going to enhance NATO's ability to combat 21st century challenges, ranging from counterterrorism to peacekeeping. And I applauded him for that.

I think the United States should welcome a powerful defense in Europe. And I think the leadership that President Sarkozy is showing on this is important.

We also talked about Darfur and the need for the United States to join with the Europeans, to prevent the continuing spread of instability and despair, that affects not only Sudan but also the broader region.

So the last point I want to make, and then we can open it up for questions, is President Sarkozy emphasized that in his upcoming role, as president of the EU, one of the biggest priorities is going to be climate change.

And I said to him that should I end up being the next president of the United States, this is also going to be one of my highest priorities, not only because it impacts our environment in a profound way but also because it has a direct impact on our national security and on our economic interests as well. If we do not have a energy policy that curbs our use of fossil fuels, then we are going to have a whole host of problems in the coming decades.

And so I think that the American people are ready to take serious steps. Many of the countries of Europe have been in the lead on these issues. I'm looking forward to being a partner with the president on that process as well.

Barack Obama in Berlin

The following is the prepared text of Senator Barack Obama in Berlin, Germany, as provided by his presidential campaign.

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA:

I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before. Although tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen – a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.

I know that I don’t look like the Americans who’ve previously spoken in this great city. The journey that led me here is improbable. My mother was born in the heartland of America, but my father grew up herding goats in Kenya. His father – my grandfather – was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.

At the height of the Cold War, my father decided, like so many others in the forgotten corners of the world, that his yearning – his dream – required the freedom and opportunity promised by the West. And so he wrote letter after letter to universities all across America until somebody, somewhere answered his prayer for a better life.

That is why I’m here. And you are here because you too know that yearning. This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom. And you know that the only reason we stand here tonight is because men and women from both of our nations came together to work, and struggle, and sacrifice for that better life.

Ours is a partnership that truly began sixty years ago this summer, on the day when the first American plane touched down at Templehof.

On that day, much of this continent still lay in ruin. The rubble of this city had yet to be built into a wall. The Soviet shadow had swept across Eastern Europe, while in the West, America, Britain, and France took stock of their losses, and pondered how the world might be remade.

This is where the two sides met. And on the twenty-fourth of June, 1948, the Communists chose to blockade the western part of the city. They cut off food and supplies to more than two million Germans in an effort to extinguish the last flame of freedom in Berlin.

The size of our forces was no match for the much larger Soviet Army. And yet retreat would have allowed Communism to march across Europe. Where the last war had ended, another World War could have easily begun. All that stood in the way was Berlin.

And that’s when the airlift began – when the largest and most unlikely rescue in history brought food and hope to the people of this city.

The odds were stacked against success. In the winter, a heavy fog filled the sky above, and many planes were forced to turn back without dropping off the needed supplies. The streets where we stand were filled with hungry families who had no comfort from the cold.

But in the darkest hours, the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city’s mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. “There is only one possibility,” he said. “For us to stand together united until this battle is won…The people of Berlin have spoken. We have done our duty, and we will keep on doing our duty. People of the world: now do your duty…People of the world, look at Berlin!”

People of the world – look at Berlin!

Look at Berlin, where Germans and Americans learned to work together and trust each other less than three years after facing each other on the field of battle.

Look at Berlin, where the determination of a people met the generosity of the Marshall Plan and created a German miracle; where a victory over tyranny gave rise to NATO, the greatest alliance ever formed to defend our common security.

Look at Berlin, where the bullet holes in the buildings and the somber stones and pillars near the Brandenburg Gate insist that we never forget our common humanity.

People of the world – look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.

Sixty years after the airlift, we are called upon again. History has led us to a new crossroad, with new promise and new peril. When you, the German people, tore down that wall – a wall that divided East and West; freedom and tyranny; fear and hope – walls came tumbling down around the world. From Kiev to Cape Town, prison camps were closed, and the doors of democracy were opened. Markets opened too, and the spread of information and technology reduced barriers to opportunity and prosperity. While the 20th century taught us that we share a common destiny, the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history.

The fall of the Berlin Wall brought new hope. But that very closeness has given rise to new dangers – dangers that cannot be contained within the borders of a country or by the distance of an ocean.

The terrorists of September 11th plotted in Hamburg and trained in Kandahar and Karachi before killing thousands from all over the globe on American soil.

As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.

Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris. The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow. The genocide in Darfur shames the conscience of us all.

In this new world, such dangerous currents have swept along faster than our efforts to contain them. That is why we cannot afford to be divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone. None of us can deny these threats, or escape responsibility in meeting them. Yet, in the absence of Soviet tanks and a terrible wall, it has become easy to forget this truth. And if we’re honest with each other, we know that sometimes, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have drifted apart, and forgotten our shared destiny.

In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common. In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe’s role in our security and our future. Both views miss the truth – that Europeans today are bearing new burdens and taking more responsibility in critical parts of the world; and that just as American bases built in the last century still help to defend the security of this continent, so does our country still sacrifice greatly for freedom around the globe.

Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more – not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity.

That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another.

The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

We know they have fallen before. After centuries of strife, the people of Europe have formed a Union of promise and prosperity. Here, at the base of a column built to mark victory in war, we meet in the center of a Europe at peace. Not only have walls come down in Berlin, but they have come down in Belfast, where Protestant and Catholic found a way to live together; in the Balkans, where our Atlantic alliance ended wars and brought savage war criminals to justice; and in South Africa, where the struggle of a courageous people defeated apartheid.

So history reminds us that walls can be torn down. But the task is never easy. True partnership and true progress requires constant work and sustained sacrifice. They require sharing the burdens of development and diplomacy; of progress and peace. They require allies who will listen to each other, learn from each other and, most of all, trust each other.

That is why America cannot turn inward. That is why Europe cannot turn inward. America has no better partner than Europe. Now is the time to build new bridges across the globe as strong as the one that bound us across the Atlantic. Now is the time to join together, through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice, and a global commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It was this spirit that led airlift planes to appear in the sky above our heads, and people to assemble where we stand today. And this is the moment when our nations – and all nations – must summon that spirit anew.

This is the moment when we must defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it. This threat is real and we cannot shrink from our responsibility to combat it. If we could create NATO to face down the Soviet Union, we can join in a new and global partnership to dismantle the networks that have struck in Madrid and Amman; in London and Bali; in Washington and New York. If we could win a battle of ideas against the communists, we can stand with the vast majority of Muslims who reject the extremism that leads to hate instead of hope.

This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan, and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets. No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO’s first mission beyond Europe’s borders is a success. For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the work must be done. America cannot do this alone. The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation. We have too much at stake to turn back now.

This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. The two superpowers that faced each other across the wall of this city came too close too often to destroying all we have built and all that we love. With that wall gone, we need not stand idly by and watch the further spread of the deadly atom. It is time to secure all loose nuclear materials; to stop the spread of nuclear weapons; and to reduce the arsenals from another era. This is the moment to begin the work of seeking the peace of a world without nuclear weapons.

This is the moment when every nation in Europe must have the chance to choose its own tomorrow free from the shadows of yesterday. In this century, we need a strong European Union that deepens the security and prosperity of this continent, while extending a hand abroad. In this century – in this city of all cities – we must reject the Cold War mind-set of the past, and resolve to work with Russia when we can, to stand up for our values when we must, and to seek a partnership that extends across this entire continent.

This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many. Together, we must forge trade that truly rewards the work that creates wealth, with meaningful protections for our people and our planet. This is the moment for trade that is free and fair for all.

This is the moment we must help answer the call for a new dawn in the Middle East. My country must stand with yours and with Europe in sending a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions. We must support the Lebanese who have marched and bled for democracy, and the Israelis and Palestinians who seek a secure and lasting peace. And despite past differences, this is the moment when the world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close.

This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. Let us resolve that all nations – including my own – will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere. This is the moment to give our children back their future. This is the moment to stand as one.

And this is the moment when we must give hope to those left behind in a globalized world. We must remember that the Cold War born in this city was not a battle for land or treasure. Sixty years ago, the planes that flew over Berlin did not drop bombs; instead they delivered food, and coal, and candy to grateful children. And in that show of solidarity, those pilots won more than a military victory. They won hearts and minds; love and loyalty and trust – not just from the people in this city, but from all those who heard the story of what they did here.

Now the world will watch and remember what we do here – what we do with this moment. Will we extend our hand to the people in the forgotten corners of this world who yearn for lives marked by dignity and opportunity; by security and justice? Will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty, shelter the refugee in Chad, and banish the scourge of AIDS in our time?

Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words “never again” in Darfur?

Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don’t look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?

People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time.

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived – at great cost and great sacrifice – to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom – indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us – what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America’s shores – is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.

These are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city. These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart. It is because of these aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of these aspirations that all free people – everywhere – became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of these aspirations that a new generation – our generation – must make our mark on the world.

People of Berlin – and people of the world – the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.

Discover Germany from 06.07.2008

Click here to watch Discover Germany

This video will give you a break from politics again. It's a good way to relax and at the same time learn something interesting about one of the European countries, Germany. Have fun while watching Discover Germany!

This time you will learn about Düsseldorf, Weinheim und dem Odenwald. Moreover, you will visit Hamburg and last you are going to visit a village Caputh just outside of Berlin where Einstein and his family have spend their summer. You horseback riding in Pottenstein .

Discover Germany shows the country in all its variety. Its cities, towns, nature and landscapes. There are always plenty of ideas for what to do and see when you come to Germany.

A production of the Deutsche Welle.

Another big giveaway to oil companies

And again, President Bush is placing oil and big money over the well-being of his country and the world.

President Bush does not care about the environment! He does not care what will happen to this world, the environment or the human species! The only thing he cares about is how to please the economy, his friends in the oil industry and his own wallet.

President Bush even blames congressional Democrats for the high gasoline prices that are angering many American consumers.

What kind of bad joke is that? Did the congressional Democrats drive the oil prizes up? If anyone believes what President Bush is saying then he or she should really get his of her head check for any kind of damage!

Don’t we all know that the world-market drives the prize up?

However, it was and is the lack of foresight to imagine that the policies, Washington have been promoting, would lead to this kind of energy disaster. Who was the one who did not want to implement any kind of alternative energy programs or research?

Well guess: President Bush! He told the American people that any environmental policies would cost jobs. The truth however is that this kind of shortsightedness over the last 8 years by the Bush government has cost jobs!

And what a surprise, Bush's own father, President George H.W. Bush had issued the executive order in 1990 that prohibits drilling for oil and gas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska.

Last, would such drilling improve the situation for the American consumer? Hennessey, the National Economic Council director, said that the proposed initiatives would not increase domestic energy supplies for years.

Other economist point out that the prize of oil has less to do with the supply but rather with the weak US dollar, the high consumption of the US and high speculation. Therefore, drilling for oil and gas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska would have little impact in the short-term nor in the long-run.

However, drilling for oil and gas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska could have a dramatic impact on the tourist industry of Florida, California and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska.

One should ask: What is more important, to protect an environment from destruction or to give oil companies billions in profits? Americans will continue to pay the high prize at the pump if they don't decrease consumption!

Al Gore Endorses Barack Obama

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, we can.
Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: Thank you, Governor Granholm, for your introduction and your great leadership.

Thank you, Michigan, for supporting me in 2000. I'll never forget it.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: Congratulations, Detroit, on the Red Wings victory in the Stanley Cup finals.

I speak to you this evening as a citizen of the United States. I speak to you also as citizen of the world, because the outcome of this election will affect the future of our planet. For America to lead the world through the dangers we're facing and to seize the opportunities before us, we've got to have new leadership. Not only a new president, but new policies. Not only a new head of state, but a new vision for America's future.

I want to begin with a few words to my fellow Democrats. We have just concluded an historic contest among the strongest field of candidates any political party has ever offered for the presidency of this country.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: An inspiring group of men and a woman with experience and vision, confidence and boldness. Their vigorous competition has attracted record numbers of voters in every part of America, reinvigorated our democracy and helped to rekindle the spirit of our country. And now we've made our choice.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: As the general election begins, let us remember our obligation to honor the highest values of our democracy and conduct this campaign in a spirit of respect for the Republican nominee...

(BOOS) GORE: No, no. In that case, I'm glad I brought it up. Because, as Senator Barack Obama has said, John McCain is deserving of that respect. He has demonstrated bravery in war and as a prisoner of war and has served in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate for many years. Moreover, he has demonstrated a willingness to debate some critical issues, including the climate crisis, that many Republicans have refused to discuss at all.

But even as we acknowledge his long experience, we must and we will make our case that America simply cannot afford to continue the policies of the last eight years for another four.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: And we all know that a long tenure in Washington, D.C. is not the same as judgment, wisdom and vision.

Nevertheless, the other party seems to think that age and experience are factors that will work in their favor during this campaign. But our shared -- our shared experience as a nation tells us otherwise. I remember when one prominent Republican wondered out loud whether the Democratic nominee -- and I quote -- "really is grown up enough to be president." Another used the phrase "naive and inexperienced." Yet another said, "The United States cannot afford to risk the future of the free world with inexperience and immaturity in the White House."

(BOOS)

GORE: Who are they talking about?

Every single one of those quotations came from the campaign of 1960, when the Republicans attacked John Fitzgerald Kennedy for allegedly lacking the age and experience necessary to be president.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: Richard Nixon's slogan in that campaign was "experience counts," to which John F. Kennedy responded -- and I quote -- "to exclude from positions of trust and command all those below the age of 44 would have kept Jefferson from writing the Declaration of Independence, Washington from commanding the Continental Army, Madison from fathering the Constitution and Christopher Columbus from even discovering America."

On January 20th, 1961, as a 12-year-old boy, I stood in the snow in front of the Capitol as John Fitzgerald Kennedy took the oath of office. I know what his inspiration meant to my generation. And I feel that same spirit in this auditorium here tonight building all over this country this year.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: I feel your determination, after two terms of the Bush- Cheney administration, to change the direction of our country. In looking back over the last eight years, I can tell you that we have already learned one important fact since the year 2000. Take it from me, elections matter.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: If you think the next appointments to our Supreme Court are important, you know that elections matter.

If you live in the City of New Orleans, you know that elections matter.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: If you or a member of your family are serving in the active military, the National Guard or Reserves, you know that elections matter.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: If you're a wounded veteran, you know that elections matter.

If you lost your job, if you're struggling with your mortgage, you know that elections matter.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: If you care about a clean environment, if you want a government that protects you instead of special interests, you know that elections matter.

If you care about food safety, if you like a T on your BLT, you know that elections matter.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: If you bought poisoned lead-filled toys from China or adulterated medicine made in China, if you bought tainted pet food made in China, you know that elections matter.

After the last eight years, even our dogs and cats have learned that elections matter.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: And this election matters more than ever because America needs change more than ever. After eight years of lost jobs and lower wages, we need change. After eight years of incompetence, neglect and failure, we need change. After eight years in which our constitution has been dishonored and disrespected, we need change.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: After eight years of the worst, most serious foreign policy mistakes in the entire history of our nation, we need change.

(APPLAUSE) GORE: In September of 2002, I argued strongly that the invasion of a country that had not attacked us would be a mistake and would divert attention, resources and resolve from the effort to track down and capture those who had attacked us. I argued that the occupation of Iraq would be dangerous and harmful for our country. And I well remember how few elected officials were willing to take that position in favor of protecting our national security by remaining focused on the right objectives. But I remember that an eloquent legislator in Springfield, Illinois named Barack Obama spoke up boldly and clearly, with the force of reason and logic to join in opposition to that blunder.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: To those who still do not understand that the withdrawal of troops from the search for bin Laden in order to launch a misguided invasion of Iraq was a mistake, it's time to say we need a change.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: To those who want to continue making that same mistake over and over again indefinitely, it is important for us to say loudly and clearly with our votes this November, we need change. We intend to have change.

UNIDENTIFIED SUPPORTERS: We need change. We need change. We need change.

We need change. We need change. We need change.

GORE: To those who want to continue borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf and burn it in ways that destroy our planet's environment, it's time to say we need change.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: Barack Obama knows that we are too dependent on foreign oil and carbon fuel and has proposed a plan to create millions of good new jobs in renewable, green energy, conservation and efficiency. Here in Detroit, you know we need to revitalize our automobile industry with a commitment to plug-in hybrids and low emission vehicles to solve the climate crisis and create the jobs of the future.

The future is ours not to predict, but to create. But make no mistake, we need to change our policies on climate. Not too many years from now, the next generation will look back at the decision we make this coming November and the policies we put in place in January of next year. Were we to ignore the warnings of the scientists around the world and look the other way as the entire North polar icecap melts before our eyes and the consequences we've been warned about unfolded, our children might then well ask, what were they thinking?

Why didn't they act?

Why didn't they choose change when they had a chance? It is my deep hope that they will ask another and very different question. I want them to look back on this historic year and ask how did Americans in 2008 find the moral courage to rise and successfully solve a crisis that so many said was impossible to solve?

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: How did they find the strength to change?

As Americans, we know that our democracy often moves very slowly. But we also know that when we must, we can shift gears quickly and suddenly pick up the pace to respond boldly to a great challenge. That's what the greatest generation did to win World War II and then came home to start the Marshall Plan, unify Europe, create the United Nations and create the basis for peace and prosperity for decades.

Many people have waited for some sign that our country is awakening once again.

How will we know when a massive wave of reform and recovery and regeneration is about to take hold and renew our nation?

What would it look like if such a change were beginning to build?

I think we might recognize it as a sign of such change if we saw millions of young people getting involved for the first time in the political process.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: I think we might just recognize that if we saw that new generation casting aside obsolete and hurtful distinctions and reaching out to one another across the ancient divisions that have frustrated action in the past.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: I think we would know this change was coming if a new generation rejected this special interest politics of the past and the big money that fueled it and instead used the Internet to get small donations and unite Americans in a common effort to realize our common destiny.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: If we saw it coming, we would recognize it by the words hope and change. Perhaps we would recognize it if we heard a young leader rise up to say we're not a red state America or a blue state America, we are the United States of America. We would know that change was on the way if that young leader reached out not only to the supporters of the other candidates in his party, but also beyond partisan lines, to Republicans and Independents, and said to us all, America, our time has come.

I think we would recognize it in a candidate who, in response to those doubting our ability to solve the climate crisis and create a bright future, inspired millions to say yes, we can.

We have such a nominee. We have such a leader. Yes, we can. Ladies and gentlemen, the next president of the United States of America, Barack Obama.

(APPLAUSE)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE: Thank you, Detroit.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Thank you.

Discover Germany in English

Click here to watch Discover Germany

This video will give you a break from politics. It's a good way to relax and at the same time learn something interesting about one of the European countries, Germany. Have fun while watching Discover Germany!

Discover Germany takes you to Germany’s most beautiful destinations. From Sylt to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, from Aachen to Zittau – each edition presents a particular region, city and landscape.

A production of the Deutsche Welle.

Surprising polls

The newest CNN's national general election "poll of polls" showed that Barack Obama would receive only 48% while John McCain would still receive 43%.

What do this polls show? Well, in my opinion it shows that this election is steering into the same direction as the 2000 election where the Republican Party was telling the American people that their candidate is different, more moderate and more liberal than the current president. The Republican Party is trying to convince the American people that they have suddenly become more inclusive.

The problem is that in the 2000 election Bush was portrayed in the same way as the Republican Party is now portraying John McCain . However, what happened after the election? Don’t we have currently a government and a President that are more conservative than any government before? Didn't it became a government which changes laws so it would benefit themselves and not the United States or the American people, a government that does not represent the people anymore but rather its own interests.

Just listen to the comments of President Bush after the Supreme Court voted 5-4 that the prisoners held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba are entitled to rights under the U.S. Constitution. And that this decision would allow detainees to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts. We can expect, as seen before after a Supreme Court decision, that the government Bush will change the policies and laws to bypass the court's decision.

I am surprised how many people still favor a candidate who represents a party that has been supporting the most unpopular President in history? I am surprised how many people still believe that changing the horse will change the path our government? It’s not just the person, but it’s the ideology of the party that stands behind the current President and government. This ideology has not changed! Therefore we have to expect more of the same if John McCain would be elected!

So, why do so many people still favor John McCain?

How do we measure our economy?

How do we measure our economy?

Does a good economy mean that the wealthiest of the wealthiest become wealthier,

while the poor people get poorer and the middle class slip into poverty?

Or does a good economy mean that wealth is evenly spread throughout the population around our country and around the world.

That is not impossible!

Where there is a will there is a way!!

Until now our governments around the world are not and have never been interested in wealth for every one!

We need to become socially responsible and care about every single person on this world!

Only if we really try to accomplish this goal we will have peace on this planet!

Only if we care about our planet and the citizens who live on this earth, we will continue to enjoy our prosperity.

Yes ,we all could enjoy a comfortable life if all really want this.

So this is only possible if our elected government is willing and gets the support from the people.

Please think about the idea of wealth for every person on this earth. Let’s move beyond eliminating poverty and eliminate unfair wealth of a few on the back of the rest people on this planet!

Congratulations to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton

Congratulations to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

This speech has been one of her best. It was the most uplifting speech I’ve ever heard Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton give. One could ask, why didn't she use such tone during her campaign. It was uplifting to see how Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was able to use the language Senator Barack Obama has been using throughout his campaign, a language of hope, honor and honesty.

We need a President in the United States who is able restore not only the economy but also the positive image the United States used to have before the Bush Government took office. Before Money was more important than values, such as equality, honesty, opportunity and honor for every one, not just for the richest in this world. Before our government became arrogant and attracted hatred around the world.

The United States used to stand for equality, honesty, opportunity and honor for all people around the world before the Bush Government took office.

I hope that the American people are not going to be blinded again by old slogans of the Republicans and subdued by fear instilled by John McCain as his friend J.W. Bush and "Dick" Cheney, who have done this over the past seven plus years.

Hillary Rodham Clinton Suspends Her Presidential Campaign

(National Building Museum, Washington, DC)

Courtesy CQ Transcripts Wire
Saturday, June 7, 2008; 1:33 PM

[*] CLINTON: Thank you very, very much. Well, this isn't exactly the party I'd planned, but I sure like the company.

(APPLAUSE) And I want to start today by saying how grateful I am to all of you, to everyone who poured your hearts and your hopes into this campaign, who drove for miles and lined the streets waving homemade signs, who scrimped and saved to raise money, who knocked on doors and made calls, who talked, sometimes argued with your friends and neighbors...

(APPLAUSE)

... who e-mailed and contributed online, who invested so much in our common enterprise, to the moms and dads who came to our events, who lifted their little girls and little boys on their shoulders and whispered in their ears, "See, you can be anything you want to be."

(APPLAUSE)

To the young people...

(APPLAUSE)

... like 13-year-old Anne Riddell (ph) from Mayfield, Ohio, who had been saving for two years to go to Disney World and decided to use her savings instead to travel to Pennsylvania with her mom and volunteer there, as well.

To the veterans, to the childhood friends, to New Yorkers and Arkansans...

(APPLAUSE)

... who traveled across the country, telling anyone who would listen why you supported me. And to all of those women in their 80s and their 90s...

(APPLAUSE)

... born before women could vote, who cast their votes for our campaign. I've told you before about Florence Stein (ph) of South Dakota who was 88 years old and insisted that her daughter bring an absentee ballot to her hospice bedside. Her daughter and a friend put an American flag behind her bed and helped her fill out the ballot.

She passed away soon after and, under state law, her ballot didn't count, but her daughter later told a reporter, "My dad's an ornery, old cowboy, and he didn't like it when he heard Mom's vote wouldn't be counted. I don't think he had voted in 20 years, but he voted in place of my mom."

(APPLAUSE)

So to all those who voted for me and to whom I pledged my utmost, my commitment to you and to the progress we seek is unyielding.

You have inspired and touched me with the stories of the joys and sorrows that make up the fabric of our lives. And you have humbled me with your commitment to our country. Eighteen million of you, from all walks of life...

(APPLAUSE)

... women and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African- American and Caucasian...

(APPLAUSE)

... rich, poor, and middle-class, gay and straight, you have stood with me.

(APPLAUSE)

And I will continue to stand strong with you every time, every place, in every way that I can. The dreams we share are worth fighting for.

Remember, we fought for the single mom with the young daughter, juggling work and school, who told me, "I'm doing it all to better myself for her."

We fought for the woman who grabbed my hand and asked me, "What are you going to do to make sure I have health care?" and began to cry, because even though she works three jobs, she can't afford insurance.

We fought for the young man in the Marine Corps t-shirt who waited months for medical care and said, "Take care of my buddies over there, and then will you please take care of me?"

(APPLAUSE)

We fought for all those who've lost jobs and health care, who can't afford gas or groceries or college, who have felt invisible to their president these last seven years.

I entered this race because I have an old-fashioned conviction that public service is about helping people solve their problems and live their dreams. I've had every opportunity and blessing in my own life, and I want the same for all Americans.

And until that day comes, you'll always find me on the front lines of democracy, fighting for the future.

(APPLAUSE)

The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our strength, and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him.

(APPLAUSE)

And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.

(APPLAUSE)

I have served in the Senate with him for four years. I have been in this campaign with him for 16 months. I have stood on the stage and gone toe-to-toe with him in 22 debates. I've had a front-row seat to his candidacy, and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit.

In his own life, Barack Obama has lived the American dream, as a community organizer, in the State Senate, as a United States senator. He has dedicated himself to ensuring the dream is realized. And in this campaign, he has inspired so many to become involved in the democratic process and invested in our common future.

Now, when I started this race, I intended to win back the White House and make sure we have a president who puts our country back on the path to peace, prosperity and progress. And that's exactly what we're going to do, by ensuring that Barack Obama walks through the doors of the Oval Office on January 20, 2009.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, I understand -- I understand that we all know this has been a tough fight, but the Democratic Party is a family. And now it's time to restore the ties that bind us together and to come together around the ideals we share, the values we cherish, and the country we love.

We may have started on separate journeys, but today our paths have merged. And we're all heading toward the same destination, united and more ready than ever to win in November and to turn our country around, because so much is at stake.

We all want an economy that sustains the American dream, the opportunity to work hard and have that work rewarded, to save for college, a home and retirement, to afford that gas and those groceries, and still have a little left over at the end of the month, an economy that lifts all of our people and ensures that our prosperity is broadly distributed and shared.

We all want a health care system that is universal, high-quality and affordable...

(APPLAUSE)

... so that parents don't have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead-end jobs simply to keep their insurance.

This isn't just an issue for me. It is a passion and a cause, and it is a fight I will continue until every single American is insured, no exceptions and no excuses.

(APPLAUSE)

We all want an America defined by deep and meaningful equality, from civil rights to labor rights, from women's rights to gay rights...

(APPLAUSE)

... from ending discrimination to promoting unionization, to providing help for the most important job there is: caring for our families.

And we all want to restore America's standing in the world, to end the war in Iraq, and once again lead by the power of our values...

(APPLAUSE)

... and to join with our allies to confront our shared challenges, from poverty and genocide to terrorism and global warming.

You know, I've been involved in politics and public life in one way or another for four decades. And during those...

(APPLAUSE)

During those 40 years, our country has voted 10 times for president. Democrats won only three of those times, and the man who won two of those elections is with us today.

(APPLAUSE)

We made tremendous progress during the '90s under a Democratic president, with a flourishing economy and our leadership for peace and security respected around the world.

Just think how much more progress we could have made over the past 40 years if we'd had a Democratic president. Think about the lost opportunities of these past seven years on the environment and the economy, on health care and civil rights, on education, foreign policy and the Supreme Court.

Imagine how far...

(APPLAUSE)

... we could have come, how much we could have achieved if we had just had a Democrat in the White House.

(APPLAUSE)

We cannot let this moment slip away. We have come too far and accomplished too much.

Now, the journey ahead will not be easy. Some will say we can't do it, that it's too hard, we're just not up to the task. But for as long as America has existed, it has been the American way to reject can't-do claims and to choose instead to stretch the boundaries of the possible through hard work, determination, and a pioneering spirit.

It is this belief, this optimism that Senator Obama and I share and that has inspired so many millions of our supporters to make their voices heard. So today I am standing with Senator Obama to say: Yes, we can!

(APPLAUSE)

And that together we will work -- we'll have to work hard to achieve universal health care. But on the day we live in an America where no child, no man, and no woman is without health insurance, we will live in a stronger America. That's why we need to help elect Barack Obama our president.

(APPLAUSE)

We'll have to work hard to get back to fiscal responsibility and a strong middle class. But on the day we live in an America whose middle class is thriving and growing again, where all Americans, no matter where they live or where their ancestors came from, can earn a decent living, we will live in a stronger America. And that is why we must help elect Barack Obama our president.

(APPLAUSE)

We'll have to work hard to foster the innovation that will make us energy independent and lift the threat of global warming from our children's future. But on the day we live in an America fueled by renewable energy, we will live in a stronger America. And that is why we have to help elect Barack Obama our president.

(APPLAUSE)

We'll have to work hard to bring our troops home from Iraq and get them the support they've earned by their service. But on the day we live in an America that's as loyal to our troops as they have been to us, we will live in a stronger America. And that is why we must help elect Barack Obama our president.

(APPLAUSE)

This election is a turning-point election. And it is critical that we all understand what our choice really is. Will we go forward together, or will we stall and slip backwards?

Now, think how much progress we've already made. When we first started, people everywhere asked the same questions. Could a woman really serve as commander-in-chief? Well, I think we answered that one.

(APPLAUSE)

Could an African-American really be our president? And Senator Obama has answered that one. (APPLAUSE)

Together, Senator Obama and I achieved milestones essential to our progress as a nation, part of our perpetual duty to form a more perfect union.

Now, on a personal note, when I was asked what it means to be a woman running for president, I always gave the same answer, that I was proud to be running as a woman, but I was running because I thought I'd be the best president. But...

(APPLAUSE)

But I am a woman and, like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious, and I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.

(APPLAUSE)

I ran as a daughter who benefited from opportunities my mother never dreamed of. I ran as a mother who worries about my daughter's future and a mother who wants to leave all children brighter tomorrows.

To build that future I see, we must make sure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their grandmothers and their mothers, and that women enjoy equal opportunities, equal pay, and equal respect.

(APPLAUSE)

Let us...

(APPLAUSE)

Let us resolve and work toward achieving very simple propositions: There are no acceptable limits, and there are no acceptable prejudices in the 21st century in our country.

(APPLAUSE)

You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories...

(APPLAUSE)

... unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the president of the United States. And that is truly remarkable, my friends.

(APPLAUSE)

To those who are disappointed that we couldn't go all of the way, especially the young people who put so much into this campaign, it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours.

Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. And, when you stumble, keep faith. And, when you're knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on.

(APPLAUSE)

As we gather here today in this historic, magnificent building, the 50th woman to leave this Earth is orbiting overhead. If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House.

(APPLAUSE)

Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it...

(APPLAUSE)

... and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time.

That has always been the history of progress in America. Think of the suffragists who gathered at Seneca Falls in 1848 and those who kept fighting until women could cast their votes.

Think of the abolitionists who struggled and died to see the end of slavery. Think of the civil rights heroes and foot soldiers who marched, protested, and risked their lives to bring about the end of segregation and Jim Crow.

(APPLAUSE)

Because of them, I grew up taking for granted that women could vote and, because of them, my daughter grew up taking for granted that children of all colors could go to school together.

Because of them, Barack Obama and I could wage a hard-fought campaign for the Democratic nomination. Because of them and because of you, children today will grow up taking for granted that an African-American or a woman can, yes, become the president of the United States. And so...

(APPLAUSE)

... when that day arrives, and a woman takes the oath of office as our president, we will all stand taller, proud of the values of our nation, proud that every little girl can dream big and that her dreams can come true in America.

And all of you will know that, because of your passion and hard work, you helped pave the way for that day. So I want to say to my supporters: When you hear people saying or think to yourself, "If only, or, "What if," I say, please, don't go there. Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward.

(APPLAUSE)

Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been. We have to work together for what still can be. And that is why I will work my heart out to make sure that Senator Obama is our next president.

(APPLAUSE)

And I hope and pray that all of you will join me in that effort.

(APPLAUSE)

To my supporters and colleagues in Congress, to the governors and mayors, elected officials who stood with me in good times and bad, thank you for your strength and leadership.

To my friends in our labor unions who stood strong every step of the way, I thank you and pledge my support to you.

To my friends from every stage of my life, your love and ongoing commitment sustained me every single day.

To my family, especially Bill and Chelsea and my mother, you mean the world to me, and I thank you for all you have done.

(APPLAUSE)

And to my extraordinary staff, volunteers and supporters...

(APPLAUSE)

... thank you for working those long, hard hours. Thank you for dropping everything, leaving work or school, traveling to places that you've never been, sometimes for months on end. And thanks to your families, as well, because your sacrifice was theirs, too. All of you were there for me every step of the way.

Now, being human, we are imperfect. That's why we need each other, to catch each other when we falter, to encourage each other when we lose heart. Some may lead, some may follow, but none of us can go it alone.

The changes we're working for are changes that we can only accomplish together. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are rights that belong to us as individuals. But our lives, our freedom, our happiness are best enjoyed, best protected, and best advanced when we do work together.

That is what we will do now, as we join forces with Senator Obama and his campaign. We will make history together, as we write the next chapter in America's story. We will stand united for the values we hold dear, for the vision of progress we share, and for the country we love.

There is nothing more American than that.

And looking out at you today, I have never felt so blessed. The challenges that I have faced in this campaign...

(APPLAUSE)

... are nothing compared to those that millions of Americans face every day in their own lives.

So today I'm going to count my blessings and keep on going. I'm going to keep doing what I was doing long before the cameras ever showed up and what I'll be doing long after they're gone: working to give every American the same opportunities I had and working to ensure that every child has the chance to grow up and achieve his or her God- given potential.

I will do it with a heart filled with gratitude, with a deep and dividing love for our country, and with nothing but optimism and confidence for the days ahead.

This is now our time to do all that we can to make sure that, in this election, we add another Democratic president to that very small list of the last 40 years and that we take back our country and once again move with progress and commitment to the future.

Thank you all. And God bless you, and God bless America.

(APPLAUSE)

Source: CQ Transcriptions

Global Crisis: How to Feed the World

“Around the world, one in seven people go hungry every day. In total, some 850 million people don't have enough to eat. But what are the causes of the current food crisis?
And can it be overcome?
These are the questions being addressed at a summit of the Food and Agriculture Organization under way in Rome.Food prices have been relatively stable for a long time - but they've been rising over the last three years. Maize, wheat and rice have seen price increases of up to 180 percent. And the explosion in prices has been especially swift in the last two months - with rice going up by 75 percent and wheat by 120 percent.” (Deutsche Welle)

Looking at this information we have to ask ourselves, what are our politicians doing to stop the hunger around the world?

Is our government investing in sustainable agriculture and add politics?

Or is our government more interested to help large cooperation to become bigger, more controlling and wealthier? Shouldn’t we assist farmers around the world to produce better, more efficient and still environmental friendly and sustainable. We do not need all these chemicals as we have thought over the past decades. We are able as scientists have shown able to use natural fertilizer and insecticides. Our government should invest in environmental friendly agricultural research rather than into weapon research.

Think about this!

Video & Transcript: Barack Obama's Victory Speech delivered in St. Paul, Minn.

Published: June 3, 2008

The following a transcript of Senator Barack Obama’s speech to supporters on the last night of voting in the primary campaign, as provided by CQ Transcriptions.

(No transcript for the "thank-yous")

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA: Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of miles have been traveled; millions of voices have been heard.

And because of what you said, because you decided that change must come to Washington, because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest, because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears, but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another, a journey...

(APPLAUSE)

... a journey that will bring a new and better day to America.

Because of you, tonight I can stand here and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for the president of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

But I want to thank -- I want to thank all those in Montana and South Dakota who stood up for change today. I want to thank every American who stood with us over the course of this campaign, through the good days and the bad, from the snows of Cedar Rapids to the sunshine of Sioux Falls.

And, tonight, I also want to thank the men and woman who took this journey with me as fellow candidates for president.

At this defining moment, at this defining moment for our nation, we should be proud that our party put forth one of the most talented, qualified field of individuals ever to run for office.

I have not just competed with them as rivals. I've learned from them as friends, as public servants, and as patriots who love America and are willing to work tirelessly to make this country better. They are leaders of this party and leaders that America will turn to for years to come.

And that is particularly true for the candidate who has traveled further on this journey than anyone else. Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign.

(APPLAUSE)

She has made history not just because she's a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she is a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight.

I congratulate her on her victory in South Dakota, and I congratulate her on the race that she has run throughout this contest.

(APPLAUSE)

We've certainly had our differences over the last 16 months. But as someone who's shared a stage with her many times, I can tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the morning -- even in the face of tough odds -- is exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago, what sent her to work at the Children's Defense Fund and made her fight for health care as first lady, what led her to the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking campaign for the presidency: an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be.

And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country -- and we will win that fight -- she will be central to that victory.

(APPLAUSE)

When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen.

Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton.

(APPLAUSE)

There are those who say that this primary has somehow left us weaker and more divided. Well, I say that, because of this primary, there are millions of Americans who have cast their ballot for the very first time.

(APPLAUSE)

There are independents and Republicans who understand this election isn't just about a change of party in Washington, but also about the need to change Washington.

There are young people, and African-Americans, and Hispanic- Americans, and women of all ages who have voted in numbers that have broken records and inspired a nation.

(APPLAUSE)

All of you chose to support a candidate you believe in deeply. But at the end of the day, we aren't the reason you came out and waited in lines that stretched block after block to make your voice heard. You didn't do that...

(APPLAUSE)

You didn't do that because of me or Senator Clinton or anyone else. You did it because you know in your hearts that at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, we cannot afford to keep doing what we've been doing.

We owe our children a better future. We owe our country a better future. And for all those who dream of that future tonight, I say: Let us begin the work together. Let us unite in common effort to chart a new course for America.

In just a few short months, the Republican Party will arrive in St. Paul with a very different agenda. They will come here to nominate John McCain, a man who has served this country heroically. (APPLAUSE)

I honor, we honor the service of John McCain, and I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine.

(APPLAUSE)

My differences with him -- my differences with him are not personal. They are with the policies he has proposed in this campaign, because while John McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence from his party in the past, such independence has not been the hallmark of his presidential campaign.

It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year.

It's not change when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies that have failed to create well-paying jobs, or insure our workers, or help Americans afford the skyrocketing cost of college, policies that have lowered the real incomes of the average American family, widened the gap between Wall Street and Main Street, and left our children with a mountain of debt.

It's not change when he promises to continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians, a policy where all we look for are reasons to stay in Iraq, while we spend billions of dollars a month on a war that isn't making the American people any safer.

So I'll say this: There are many words to describe John McCain's attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush's policies as bipartisan and new, but "change" is not one of them.

(APPLAUSE)

"Change" is not one of them, because change is a foreign policy that doesn't begin and end with a war that should've never been authorized and never been waged.

(APPLAUSE)

I won't stand here and pretend that there are many good options left in Iraq, but what's not an option is leaving our troops in that country for the next hundred years, especially at a time when our military is overstretched, our nation is isolated, and nearly every other threat to America is being ignored.

(APPLAUSE)

We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in, but we -- but start leaving we must.

It's time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future. It's time to rebuild our military and give our veterans the care and the benefits they deserve when they come home.

(APPLAUSE)

It's time to refocus our efforts on Al Qaida's leadership and Afghanistan, and rally the world against the common threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. That's what change is.

Change, Minnesota, is realizing that meeting today's threats requires not just our firepower, but the power of our diplomacy: tough, direct diplomacy, where the president of the United States isn't afraid to let any petty dictator know where America stands and what we stand for.

(APPLAUSE)

We must once again have the courage and the conviction to lead the free world. That is the legacy of Roosevelt and Truman and Kennedy. That's what the American people demand. That's what change is.

(APPLAUSE)

Change is building an economy that rewards not just wealth, but the work and the workers who created it. It's understanding that the struggles facing working families can't be solved by spending billions of dollars on more tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy CEOs, but by giving a middle-class tax break to those who need it, and investing in our crumbling infrastructure, and transforming how we use energy, and improving our schools, and renewing our commitment to science and innovation.

(APPLAUSE)

It's understanding that fiscal responsibility and shared prosperity can go hand-in-hand, as they did when Bill Clinton was president.

(APPLAUSE)

John McCain has spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq in the last few weeks, but maybe if he spent some time taking trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit by this economy -- cities in Michigan, and Ohio, and right here in Minnesota -- he'd understand the kind of change that people are looking for.

(APPLAUSE)

Maybe if he went to Iowa and met the student who works the night shift after a full day of class and still can't pay the medical bills for a sister who's ill, he'd understand she can't afford four more years of a health care plan that only takes care of the healthy and the wealthy.

She needs us to pass health care right now, a plan that guarantees insurance to every American who wants it and brings down premiums for every family who needs it. That's the change we need, Minnesota. (APPLAUSE)

Maybe if John McCain went to Pennsylvania and he met the man who lost his job, but can't even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one, he'd understand we can't afford four more years of our addiction to oil from dictators.

That man needs us to pass an energy policy that works with automakers to raise fuel standards, and makes corporations pay for their pollution, and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future, an energy policy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced. That's the change we need, Minnesota.

(APPLAUSE)

And maybe if John McCain spent some time in the schools of South Carolina or St. Paul, Minnesota, or where he spoke tonight in New Orleans, Louisiana, he'd understand that we can't afford to leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind; that we owe it to our children to invest in early-childhood education; and recruit an army of new teachers and give them better pay and more support; and finally decide that, in this global economy, the chance to get a college education should not be a privilege for the few, but a birthright of every American.

That's the change we need in America. That's why I'm running for president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, the other side will come here in September and offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a good thing. That is a debate I look forward to.

(APPLAUSE)

It is a debate that the American people deserve on the issues that will help determine the future of this country and the future for our children.

But what you don't deserve is another election that's governed by fear, and innuendo, and division. What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge and patriotism as a bludgeon...

(APPLAUSE)

What you won't see from this campaign or this party is a politics that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to polarize, because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first.

(APPLAUSE)

Despite what the good senator from Arizona may have said tonight, I've seen people of differing views and opinions find common cause many times during my two decades in public life, and I've brought many together myself.

I've walked arm-in-arm with community leaders on the south side of Chicago and watched tensions fade as black, white, and Latino fought together for good jobs and good schools.

I've sat across the table from law enforcement officials and civil rights advocates to reform a criminal justice system that sent 13 innocent people to death row.

I've worked with friends in the other party to provide more children with health insurance and more working families with a tax break, to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure that the American people know where their tax dollars are being spent, and reduce the influence of lobbyists who have all too often set the agenda in Washington.

(APPLAUSE)

In our country, I have found that this cooperation happens not because we agree on everything, but because, behind all the false labels and false divisions and categories that define us, beyond all the petty bickering and point-scoring in Washington, Americans are a decent, generous, compassionate people, united by common challenges and common hopes.

And every so often, there are moments which call on that fundamental goodness to make this country great again.

So it was for that band of patriots who declared in a Philadelphia hall the formation of a more perfect union, and for all those who gave on the fields of Gettysburg and Antietam their last full measure of devotion to save that same union.

So it was for the greatest generation that conquered fear itself, and liberated a continent from tyranny, and made this country home to untold opportunity and prosperity.

So it was for the workers who stood out on the picket lines, the women who shattered glass ceilings, the children who braved a Selma bridge for freedom's cause.

So it has been for every generation that faced down the greatest challenges and the most improbable odds to leave their children a world that's better and kinder and more just.

And so it must be for us.

(APPLAUSE)

America, this is our moment. This is our time, our time to turn the page on the policies of the past...

(APPLAUSE) ... our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face, our time to offer a new direction for this country that we love.

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge -- I face this challenge with profound humility and knowledge of my own limitations, but I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people.

Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that, generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless...

(APPLAUSE)

... this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal...

(APPLAUSE)

... this was the moment when we ended a war, and secured our nation, and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth.

(APPLAUSE)

This was the moment, this was the time when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals.

Thank you, Minnesota. God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

Hope makes history...

Sen. Barack Obama has won the delegates needed to secure the Democratic presidential nomination, ending a bruising five-month long battle and becoming the first African-American to capture a major party presidential nomination.

However, if you have listened to his speech, he never said that this was making history for him as an African-American but rather for America and these people who are working tirelessly to make this country better.

Nonetheless, it is surprising how many working class people are still rutting for the Republican Party who takes away their jobs and supports big money. I ask myself why people vote against their own interest. Why they believe that only the Republican Party stand for honor especially after the Bush government.

Why is it that there are so many American who still believe the Republican Party is representing their interests?

Court Backs Lawsuits on Retaliation for Bias Allegations

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 in an article written by William Branigin about the Supreme Court rulings in two federal anti-discrimination statutes allowing lawsuits on claims of retaliation, siding with workers who pursued grievances in separate cases that stemmed from allegations of racial and age bias.

Although these decisions are only a small step in the call for justice, “Today's decisions”, as the president Kathryn Kolbert of the liberal People for the American Way Foundation puts it. “Do not erase the recent trend we have seen on the Supreme Court toward interpreting fundamental rights in narrow and cramped ways that favor the powerful over the powerless and giant corporations and the government over individual Americans.” These decisions give hope to those who are struggling to have their voices heard.

It is important that these voices are been heard as there are still those who seem to doubt the fact that our politicians favor the powerful over the powerless and giant corporations over individual Americans, and not provide all citizens with a real and equal opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty.

At least I see hope that things may change in time.