POTUS' Second Stimulus Package

Obama's Slip and of Justice in Gaza

President Obama made a slip of the tongue when talking about his bowling skills on "The Tonight Show", explaining his skills to be "like Special Olympics or something." He quickly made a phone call from Air Force One, apologizing to the Special Olympics Chairman. I think we have seen worse comments and fumble of words from his predecessor Bush.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Army is conducting an investigation over alleged "confusion" amongst soldiers about their instructions during the 20-day Gaza incursion. The International Criminal Court has been asked to look into it.

A total of 1300 Palestinians were killed vs 13 Israelis. 20,000 homes demolished, 240 schools destroyed, producing 600,000 tonnes of debris. An estimated USD4.5B is needed over the next 5 years to restore basic necessities in the war-torn Gaza strip.

Scale of Gaza destruction

Obama Sets to Fulfill Another Campaign Promise

The beginning of higher standards for emission that the US has been trying to dodge for years with Kyoto and such? Obama thinks not. Obama is pushing states to create legislations for higher standards despite cringing from Detroit. California is taking the lead.

Obama was also interviewed recently by Al-Arabiya, addressing the Muslim nations to extend America's new foreign policy of stronger friendship and family ties. Coming from a family with Muslim members also, he is trying to win the hearts and minds of the moderates to reject extreme Muslims who resort to violence to achieve political objectives. He is also endorsing Israeli's rights to defend from external threats. He does sound like Bush prior to Sept 11. At any rate, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt to be wiser than his predecessors in dealing with the Middle East.

Obama Watch

1. Obama avoided his predecessors mistakes by preparing and planning his transition hard and well. He got on the ground running on his first day as POTUS by phoning world leaders in the Middle East and discussing the Gaza conflict.

2. His next step is to close Gitmo, the infamous detention center which supposedly escaped the Geneva Convention embodiment on enemy combatants and the use of torture. The principal issue surrounding this is the relocation and reprocessing of current detainees.

3. He has also kept Robert Gates as SecDef, a clear indication of his intention to maintain continuity in the military front and commence sketching withdrawal plans for troops in Iraq. His new military focus will be Afghanistan stating that the war on terror began in Afghanistan and will end there. He has also signed an Executive Order to ban the use of waterboarding and other "advanced techniques" for interrogation used by non-military agencies such as the CIA.

4. Republicans have begun their onslaught and dubbing the President's economic stimulus package as ineffective and irrelevant. Obama plans to repair roads, bridges and buildings all over the country to keep Americans working. Republicans fear that the plan may not be sufficient to tackle the crisis (more jobs will be lost compared to the new jobs created).

Click here to track Obama's Campaign promises.

The 44th Gets Ready for Battle

1 day from inauguration, Obama gets his transition team ready for the real transition. He has made his selection for key economic advisory positions and cabinet posts. He has made promises of closing down Gitmo, create 2.5 million jobs in the green industry, increase taxes for the rich, reform healthcare and above all, cure the ailing economy (he is expected to approve a USD 1 trillion economic aid package). Obama will also end the war in Iraq and focus his tactical attention on Afghanistan.

Critics have begun their spinning and others are giving their 3 cents worth of how Obama should run his presidency. Fred Barnes of weeklystandard.com thinks Obama is a spoof, second-guessing the soon-to-be President would not make tough, decisive calls despite his army of Ivy-league elites. Some are stating the obvious that Bush's mistakes will be Obama's lessons of things not to do, especially with regards to foreign policy.

Friedman wants Obama to hold the some 300 bank presidents responsible and start scrutinizing their balance sheets. “So here’s what we’re going to do: we’re going to unclog the arteries. My banking experts have analyzed each of your balance sheets. You will tell us if we’re right. Those of you who are insolvent, we will nationalize and shut down. We will auction off your viable assets and will hold the toxic ones in a government reconstruction fund and sell them later when the market rebounds. Those of you who are weak will be merged. And those of you who are strong will receive added capital for your balance sheets, after you write down all your remaining toxic waste. I am not going to continue rewarding the losers and dimwits amongst you with handouts.”

Obama will also be tasked to expedite peace process in the middle east, an issue past presidents have failed to complete, for whatever reason. He will also be tested as to how he will tackle terrorism, disassociate it from Islam and conclude the ridiculous and failed campaign of 'War on Terror'. At any rate, his constituency is not only Americans, but also the entire planet, waiting to see what change he would do that we could believe in.

Obama on Israel

Millions of people were moved by Obama's campaign of change. Obama has been critical of George W Bush's way of tackling terrorism and domestic economic issues. The President-Elect has been huddling up with his newly-formed economic council to create an effective stimulus package to steer America back on track. Obama's rhetoric to develop alternative energy and create 2.5 million additional jobs caught the attention of American voters. George Bush's War on Terror was indeed a big blunder. Obama capitalized on that failure and on January 20th, he will be the 44th President of the United States of America.

The biggest question the people of the world are asking is, what is his stance on the long-drawn Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Will he push for the return of Palestenian land pre-1967? Will he continue to supply Israel with weapons and foreign aid? Time will tell.

7th Day of Israeil offensive
The problems of Israel and Palestine
Tun M's open letter to Obama

Open Letter to Barack Hussein Obama President-elect of the United States of America By Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on January 1, 2009 3:59 AM

Dear Mr. President,

I did not vote for you in the Presidential Election because I am Malaysian.

But I consider myself one of your constituents because what you do or say will affect me and my country as well.

I welcome your promise to change. Certainly your country, the United States of America need a lot of changes.

That is because America and Americans have become the best hated people in the world. Even Europeans dislike your arrogance. Yet you were once admired and liked because you freed a lot of countries from conquest and subjugation.

It is the custom on New Year's day for people to make resolutions. You must have listed your good resolutions already. But may I politely suggest that you also resolve to do the following in pursuit of Change.

1) Stop killing people. The United States is too fond of killing people in order to achieve its objectives. You call it war, but today's wars are not about professional soldiers fighting and killing each other. It is about killing people, ordinary innocent people by the hundreds of thousands. Whole countries will be devastated.

War is primitive, the cavemen's way of dealing with a problem. Stop your arms build up and your planning for future wars.

2) Stop indiscriminate support of Israeli killers with your money and your weapons. The planes and the bombs killing the people of Gaza are from you.

3) Stop applying sanctions against countries which cannot do the same against you.

In Iraq your sanctions killed 500,000 children through depriving them of medicine and food. Others were born deformed.

What have you achieved with this cruelty? Nothing except the hatred of the victims and right-thinking people.

4) Stop your scientists and researchers from inventing new and more diabolical weapons to kill more people more efficiently.

5) Stop your arms manufacturers from producing them. Stop your sales of arms to the world. It is blood money that you earn. It is un-Christian.

6) Stop trying to democratize all the countries of the world. Democracy may work for the United States but it does not always work for other countries.

Don't kill people because they are not democratic. Your crusade to democratize countries has killed more people than the authoritarian Governments which you overthrew. And you have not succeeded anyway.

7) Stop the casinos which you call financial institutions. Stop hedge funds, derivatives and currency trading. Stop banks from lending non-existent money by the billions.

Regulate and supervise your banks. Jail the miscreants who made profits from abusing the system.

8) Sign the Kyoto Protocol and other international agreements.

9) Show respect for the United Nations.

I have many other resolutions for change which I think you should consider and undertake.

But I think you have enough on your plate for this 2009th year of the Christian Era.

If you can do only a few of what I suggest you will be remembered by the world as a great leader. Then the United States will again be the most admired nation. Your embassies will be able to take down the high fences and razor-wire coils that surround them.

May I wish you a Happy New Year and a great Presidency.

Yours Sincerely,

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad

(Former Prime Minister of Malaysia)

Short clips 1: US Economy

• More than 1/2 million Americans have lost their job in November alone. Expect more to be retrenched if funds are not channeled into the big 3 giants in Detroit. Obama will be put to task when he promised to create 2.5 million jobs by 2010.
• Obama is redirecting war efforts from Iraq to Kabul. Already he is under fire from critics with his selection of cabinet members (supposedly not representing a 'progressive' image) and reactivating leaders from the Bill Clinton's era. Guatanamo bay is another blunder he inherited from previous presidents and will be closed if he keeps his campaign promise. If such is the case, what is the strategic methodology to process inmates?
  
• His main focus now is reviving the collapsed US economy. He intends to repair US infrastructure from roads, bridges to buildings, hence creating 1 million jobs for the next 2 years. As people are losing jobs from downsizing of major corporations across the US, healthcare must also be another top priority. No job means no health coverage.
  
• With the US economy projected to contract by 4.5% next year, can the US afford to sustain another war in Afghanistan? Is it not time to realize that military might is not the best solution in troubled regions such as Kabul and Baghdad? The war in Iraq has a bill of almost USD20B a month, redirecting war efforts to Kabul will not reduce this huge deficit. The US must realize that it cannot solve world hunger if it cannot even resolve domestic issues. Of course, the war efforts will continue as long as Osama is lurking around (perhaps an excuse to extend the 'war on terror') or perhaps pressure from the military industrial complex. Seeing that the banks and auto industries have went bust, the giant defence conglomerates might be next if foreign policies dictate 'softer' approach (Chicago Tribune has filed for Chapter 11 and no one expected the media to go bust).
• Click here for Robert Gates comments on the Pentagon's coming challenges. "I have learned many things in my 42 years of service in the national security arena. Two of the most important are an appreciation of limits and a sense of humility. The United States is the strongest and greatest nation on earth, but there are still limits on what it can do. The power and global reach of its military have been an indispensable contributor to world peace and must remain so. But not every outrage, every act of aggression, or every crisis can or should elicit a U.S. military response".
• The DOD is already the biggest oil consumer in the US at 300kbd. Fuel is needed to power up the massive military organization, especially the US Navy which has a bigger fleet than the next 13 largest navies in the world. US military procurement was budgeted at US180B this year alone. Will Obama optimize operating costs for the military to save the economy?
  

Nasihat Dr. Mahathir kepada Obama

KUALA LUMPUR 5 Nov. – Bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad berkata, Barack Obama akan dapat berperanan sebagai Presiden Amerika Syarikat (AS) yang baik sekiranya beliau memahami negara lain.

Katanya, Presiden AS sekarang, George W. Bush dilihat tidak mengetahui apa-apa mengenai negara lain manakala kebanyakan Presiden terdahulu juga tidak mempunyai pengetahuan yang mencukupi mengenai negara-negara Timur.

Sehubungan itu tegasnya, Obama perlu mengemas kini dirinya mengenai apa yang berlaku di rantau ini bukan sekadar mengenai China, Jepun dan Korea bahkan negara di Asia Tenggara.

“Untuk Presiden baru, saya rasa dia akan melakukannya dengan baik jika memahami negara-negara lain.

“Kami menyedari, Bush tidak tahu apa-apa mengenai dunia lain dan ramai Presiden AS juga tidak mempunyai pengetahuan yang cukup mengenai negara Timur dalam segala tindakan mereka,” katanya.

Beliau mengulas kemenangan Obama dalam rancangan The World Watches yang disiarkan secara langsung oleh stesen televisyen Al Jazeera hari ini.

And the first African-American US President is now official

Obama wins by 189 electoral votes (338 to 149, 51% to 49% popular votes). The interesting point is that it is still a tight race in terms of popular votes, similar to the last election. Obama is just ahead by a few million votes. This demonstrates a significant fault line in American politics (at 12:30pm Malaysian time, Obama has 42.4M popular votes vs McCain's 39.7M). 62% of voters are interested in a massive US economic and financial restructuring, which is Senator Obama (now President)'s bullet point during the intense campaigning. To do this, President Obama needs to put in strict market regulations and reduce spending in Iraq amounting to about USD20B a month. His second presidential agenda is reducing oil dependency from the Middle East.

Florida was a massive win for Obama (27 electoral votes). Note that he won by a slim 100,000 popular votes only. North Carolina (17 electoral votes) was won by a mere 22,000 popular votes!!!! Ohio (20 electoral votes) was won by 90,000 popular. Very, very close election.

McCain got beat in his own state of Arizona, winning only 54% of the votes compared to Obama's 61 in Illinois.

The South showed an expected strong support for the Republicans.

Well done Mr President!

pic taken from CNN.com

Obama set to break fundraising records

Barack Obama has raised more money for his presidential bid than all candidates combined raised in the open 2000 presidential race and is on track to top the joint sum raised by President Bush and John F. Kerry in 2004.

The Illinois Democrat’s September haul of more than $150 million brings his overall contribution total for the 2008 raise to more than $600 million. Republican rival John McCain has raised about $250 million.

Mindset Part 1

Mindset is defined as “a fixed state of mind” according to Merriam Webster. Notice the word “fixed”.

The big buzz in Senator Obama’s US presidential race is “Change”. A change in the way the country is run, a change in foreign policy and how he thinks America should handle the Iraq war, a change in increasing tax for the rich and minimizing the astronomical deficit. The most important change that might happen is getting a black American elected in office as POTUS. Talking to some American rig hands on board – they blatantly answered that America is not yet ready for a black President and this is coming from grass root people. Sure, poor Black Americans especially those discriminated during Katrina in New Orleans would willingly vouch for Obama, hands down, but does this swing the entire pendulum to Obama’s side? Less than 50% turned up to vote in 2004 and it was almost a 50/50 split. It clearly means 50% of voters (who didn’t turn up) don’t really care and have better things to do.

However, Obama did set some tones in his “change” regime such as the use of Facebook for campaigning and the massive fund raising he collected through the Net. Clinton staffers were still struggling to teach her how to use the Blackberry. What does this have to do with mindset? It’s got to do with everything. If majority of Americans who turn up to vote has a fixed mindset that they’re not ready for a black President, then they’re not ready. Simple as that. Not because he’s not qualified or he doesn’t represent the right values, but because he’s black – period. Like it or not, some Americans will vote for him because he's black and some will not vote for him because he's black.

How about Malaysia? People are still interested about bloggers, freedom of speech, DSAI, why Pak Lah should step down, demonstrations, provoking Malays by questioning their rights, why Malays need the crutches and why Malaysians deserve more subsidies because Petronas is churning out money left, right and center?

While we quarrel about things that happened in the past like the Tun Salleh Abas saga, Vietnam is set to overtake Malaysia in terms of GDP soon (although the calculation of GDP is questionable in today’s economic sampling). Australia has exported their proven fuel cell technology. The French number 1 export is electricity from nuclear power. US is adamant to keep their tertiary education system private and competitive, as it is the best in the world (Harvard boasts of approximately USD20B in endowment funds). China is now set to produce more than 6.4 million passenger vehicles a year with 120 car makers in the country and will overtake Germany as the third biggest manufacturer, after the US and Japan (In 1979, China was just manufacturing 13000 cars). Cars in the future are expected to be cheaper, lighter, smaller and more fuel-efficient. Americans are trading in their humongous SUVs for efficient Prius (to some extent. Houstonians still love their Cayennes, Lincoln Navigators and big Ford pick ups – very “oil field”-like). This is the global scenario.

While Google, Johnson & Johnson, Ebay and Swatch Group continue to increase their global economic influence and decentralize their organizations like a starfish, we are still bickering about petty things (some think they're not petty). Obviously the majority of Malaysians mindset is still fixed at being at “bickering petty issues” level (like whether to wear the Songkok when swearing in or whether we should raise our left hand when swearing in as MP). We vote for our politicians for certain criterion and they are our voice at Parliament. If some of the rookie and veteran MPs at Parliament are labeled as childish and talking rubbish, they represent the voice of their constituents, isn't it ‘safe’ to conclude that the Malaysians they represent are still thinking about petty things? If this is not so, why did we vote for that politician? Or is it because we vote for the party regardless of candidate? Or is it because the lack of viable candidates these days? In the end, it boils down to our mindset as voters, politicians, constituents, Malaysians.

US$52M in June

The Meaning of Obama's $52-Million Month

While our leaders have to fork out money for plane tickets, hotel, petrol, cigarette; the developed nations chip in to support their presidential candidates with both sides having a war chest of almost US$180M combined. That's some serious money from lobbyists, special interest groups, concerned citizens, girl scouts, etc. If the Old Putera Association starts collecting US$30k per table, we could have our own President run for any party presidency. Something to ponder.

"Two numbers tell the entire Obama story: $2 million and $68. The latter is the average size of a contribution to the Obama campaign in June. The amazing thing is that it's about $30 lower than the average contribution in May, April or March. This indicates that the senator attracted a massive number of new $5, $10, $20 donors once the primaries ended--presumably from the ranks of devoted Dems who had (until then) supported Hillary Clinton" (think about the last time your supporter chipped in RM68 for you).

"Ultimately, Obama could raise more than $250 million by Election Day if he continues at this pace--and judging by his expanding pool of small donors, he will".

4th Best Airport in the world: KLIA & Drilling in the OCS

While we worry about who sodomized who, who should get subsidies, massive traffic jam in the city and the lack of professionalism in the Parliament, we failed to recognize the people at Malaysia Airports for a job well done! Can still improve :)

From Forbes:

On KLIA: This airport has won several accolades since opening in 1998. In addition to ranking forth in Skytrax's World Airport Awards, it also ranked first on the company's list of airports with the best immigration service. While passengers are almost guaranteed a seamless arrival and departure experience, they can also enjoy free wi-fi, luxury shopping and reflexology and massage services.

Down south got second place (still beatable):

Since Skytrax began ranking airports in 1999, Singapore Changi has placed first twice. The airport was built in 1981, and it has since added more terminals that cater to both budget and luxury passengers. The up-to-date services and amenities include an indoor orchid garden, a rooftop swimming pool, themed television lounges and a free sight-seeing tour for those who have at least five hours prior to their connecting flight.

Don't forget the recognition needs to go to Tan Sri Hassan Merican and Petronas staff as well for making us proud!

I also consider the fuel subsidy a closed issue. Let's move on to other interesting stuff like a standardized education, fuel efficiency and sustainability and such.

On oil development, Bush will endorse drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The US is surrounded by 4 OCS (Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, Alaska and Pacific OCSs). The OCS is practically the area between the continent and deep ocean. He reckons there is approximately 18 billion of oil in these areas. Even if he manages to lift the ban on drilling in the OCS, it won't help reduce the current oil price. It will take years to develop these fields, the price of steel has increased to more than US1000 a tonne which slows down construction and increases price of platforms and rigs. It will take at least 1-2 years to explore and another 2-3 years to begin development. By then, oil would be USD200/bbl. Senator Obama plans to increase fuel efficiency by spending more money in car engine research, E85 at the pumps. He is also an advocate of the environment and wants to see the US help reduce green house gas emission as they are the biggest consumer of oil.

A piece of advice from George Bush

George Bush telling incoming Senator Obama during their first official meet at the White House: "Come over here for a second,". "You know," he said quietly, "I hope you don't mind me giving you a piece of advice."

"Not at all, Mr. President".

He nodded. "You've got a bright future," he said. "Very bright. But I've been in this town awhile and, let me tell you, it can be tough. When you get a lot of attention like you've been getting, people start gunnin' for ya. And it won't necessarily just be coming from my side, you understand. From yours, too. Everybody'll be waiting for you to slip, know what I mean? So watch yourself".