Sunday, January 25, 2009
BARACK OBAMA SPEECH : "WE ARE READY TO LEAD ONCE MORE " : THE INAUGURATION
Watching the rapturous faces of the huge crowds gathered for the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th president of the United States, and the celebrations, I couldn't help thinking that Americans were expecting too much ; if the rest of the world expecting too much.
As I watched the proceedings - including the balls that Obama and his wife attended, the gushing commentaries of political pundits and presenters, and the almost adultory opinions of ordinary Americans on CNN and BBC in my shop - I heard myself exclaimed : "Awesome".
Yes, it was awesome.
That the son of a black man and a white woman could become the president of the most powerful nation in the world speaks volumes for the maturity of the United States and its people. From almost nowhere, Obama is now here-the leader of the world's superpower. It is bound to inspire people everywhere, not just in the US.
Moving with a remarkable dignity, he exudes a confidence and serenity that seem to say : Yes, you can trust me.
Yes, I think, we are expecting too much of this man. We can have high hopes but we should temper our expectations.
It was not too long ago that George W.Bush took his oath of office for the first term (on Jan 20, 2001), promising to, "show purpose without arrogance".He leaves office with the US entangled in two wars and facing a crippling economic crisis. Bush said " I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity". Americans are glad his second term has ended.
We must remember too that Obama has hardly any experience in governance.
But, Obama knows that expectations are high. That explains his call to Americans to take responsibility and to work with the government. Especially, in the short speeches he made when participating in the 10 balls after the oath-taking ceremony.
He tried to dampen the exceedingly high expectations by saying in his inauguration speech, that the many serious challenges facing the nation would "not be met easily or in a short span of time".
As a Malaysian weary of American's unilateralism under Bush, I am latching on this statement of Obama :
"And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that the America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more".
His speech echoed sentiments expressed by several past presidents. For instance, Obama's call to Americans to take reponsibility and to be service-oriented resonates in Franklin D.Roosevelt's March 4, 1933 speech. John F.Kennedy, to whom Obama is often compared, said in his inauguration speech : "In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course."
Obama's "remaking America" call finds paralles in Bill Clinton's Jan 20, 1993, presidential inauguration speech: "And so today, we pledge and end to era of deadlock and drift; a new season of American renewal has begun".
But I get the feeling that Americans and most of the rest of the world want Obama to succeed in remaking America.
For the world does not seem as bright as before, with armed conflicts raging in various regions and economic crisis threatening to plunge more people into poverty. And there seems to be a sapping of the human spirit, resulting from man's increasing inhumanity to man.
In such a scenario, many see the eloquent and charismatic Obama as an Ivanhoe or Spiderman or Superman. Or, the Dark Knight perhaps ?
2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Exhilarating E-class
Although the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class is not slated to be unveiled until the Geneva Motor Show in March, the boys at Stuggart have given the media a sneak preview of the car based on the Concept FASCINATION.
Overall dimensions have not been altered much with it being streched a ta
d, widened a pinch and the wheelbase being pulled a little.Torsional rigidity has been bumped up in an effort to relive the bomb-proof feeling of the Merc models of yonder years while 11 standard airbags do not do any harm either.
A new system dubbed Attention Assist keeps track of steering angles and creatively alerts drivers if they're getting drowsy with an audible alert and coffee cup icon on the dash.
Good old Continental motivation will come from a number of petrol, turbocharged diesel and Bluetec engines, that will be the highlight of the order list.
The 3-litre, six cylinder, Bluetec oil burner pumps out 208hp and is already below Euro-6 emissions requirements that will be introduced in 2014.
The slew of engine options reflects the new Mercedes-Benz strategy of replacing their large, naturally aspirated engines with smaller displacement turbocharged units
that are lighter, have reduced internal friction and more economical operating characteristics.The new E-Class, which is probably the most important model the boys from Stuggart could have launched for the next 10 years, will be hitting European showroom in March.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Kuwaiti billionaire Nasser to buy Liverpool
Another Arab Invasion
LIVERPOOL are in talks to sell the club to billionaire Kuwaiti businessman Nasser Al-Kharafi-the world's 45th-richest man. The Kop kings have sent financial chief Philip Nash and commercial director Ian Ayre to the Middle East for talks over a possible 400mil pound deal. The deal may not yet be copper-bottomed. Yet if all goes to plan, happy days are just around the corner !
LOVE-BONDING SEXUAL HORMONE : OXYTOCIN
SQUIRT OF MEMORY
It's the hormone that makes people bond with mates and helps mothers fall in love with their babies. Now researches have shown that oxytocin, administered by nasal spray, made Swiss men much more likely recognise faces they had seen briefly the day before. But the hormone made no difference when it came to recalling pictures of houses, landscapes or sculptures, according to a study published last week in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Scientists from the University of Zurich recruited 41 volunteers and administered three puffs per nostril of either oxytocin or a placebo. After giving the hormone time to each the brain, volunteers watched 84 photos of faces and 84 images of inanimate objects flash onto a computer screen for 3,5 seconds each.
One day later, volunteers were shown the same pictures mixed in with additional images and were asked to identify which were new and which they had seen before.
The 22 men who inhaled the hormone had an overall "recognition memory rate" of 46% for faces. That compared with only 36% for the 19 men who got the placebo. But both groups scored an identical 44% for pictures or houses, landscapes and sculptures, according to the study.
LISTEN TO AN EXPERT ABOUT OXYTOCIN ;
OBESITY AND OVARIAN CANCER
Women who are severely overweight face an increased risk for endometrial cancer and post-menopausal breast cancer. Are they also more likely than normal-weight women to develop ovarian cancer?
A study analysed data on 94,525 women averaged about 62 years old at the start of the study. About a third of the women who were overweight, and about a forth were obese.
In a seven-year span, ovarian cancer was diagnosed in 303 of the women.
Among those who had never taken hormone theraphy after menopause, obese women were 80% more likely to have ovarian cancer than were normal-weight women. No relationship between weight and ovarian cancer was found in women who had taken menopausal hormones at some point.
Who may be affected? Older women who are severyly overweight.
Ovarian cancer, which most often affects women 55 and older, has a five-year survival rate of just 45%-in part becaus it often is not detected until it has spread beyond the ovary.
Caveats: Women in the study reported their own weights. Nearly in the study reported their own weights. Nearly all participants were white; whether the findings apply to other races is unclear.
You can find this study in the Jan 6 online issue of cancer. Learn more about ovarian cancer at www.cancer.org and www.cancer.gov.
HERE'S A VIDEO ON OBESITY AND CANCER RISK ;
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