| Felicity's profileCarpe Diem : Seize the D...PhotosBlogLists |  Tools  Help |
|
August 17 The Audacity of HopeAudacious Barack Obama
United States Senator. Born August 4, 1961 in Hawaii, the son of Barack Obama, Sr., a member of Kenya's Luo tribe, and Ann Dunham. At the age of six, Obama moved with his family to Djakarta, Indonesia, after his mother remarried. Four years later, he returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents and attend the esteemed Punahou Academy.
Obama graduated from Columbia University with a degree in political science in 1983, and moved to Chicago in 1985 to work as a community organizer in some of city’s toughest neighborhoods. In 1991, he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School where he was the first African American editor of the Harvard Law Review. Obama taught for many years at the University of Chicago Law School and helped organize voter registration drives during Bill Clinton’s election. He spent seven years in the Illinois state Senate, always putting working families at the top of his agenda. In 2004, he made a successful bid for the U.S. Senate, becoming only the third African-American elected to the Senate in more than a century. In February 2007, Obama made headlines when he announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. He seis running against the likes of former first lady and current New York senator Hilary Rodham Clinton and is vigorously campaigning and fund-raising as the dates for the 2008 primaries approach. Obama and his wife, Michelle, live on Chicago ’s South Side with their daughters, Malia and Sasha. In 2004, he published an autobiography, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. His second book, The Audacity of Hope, was published in 2006. Biography.com Hopeful AbhisitAbhisit Vejjajiva
Born 1964 In a milieu used to sleazy, corrupt politicians, Abhisit Vejjajiva is somehow too good to be true: a young lawmaker who abhors the old system and works tirelessly for a cleaner tomorrow. For the Thai people, used to some of the classic cigar-chomping, ill-informed loudmouths who stalk the halls of parliament, Abhisit offers a ray of hope. Aged just 35, Abhisit has already served under two governments, a sign that "politics as usual" may be on the wane. Major ministries may still be the preserve of the old guard, but Abhisit has excelled as a government spokesman and as minister to the prime minister's office, where he oversees investment and education issues. Abhisit puts it down to people power. "In a democracy it is up to the people," he says. " We are seeing a wave of younger politicians being given a prominent role precisely because the parties need to respond to the public call for a changing of the guard." The poster boy for the new wave, Abhisit enthralls students with his vision of money-free politics and captivates young women with his heartthrob looks. But he also cuts it with a more hard-headed audience. A panelist at the recent World Economic Forum summit in Singapore, Abhisit presented an emotional commentary on the recovery that moved some close to tears and won him a rare round of applause. While Abhisit may seem young for a minister, he set out on his career path at the age of nine. When in 1973, a popular uprising transformed Thai politics overnight, Abhisit sat up late listening to the news. "Suddenly to me politics was no longer the business of the few. It was everybody's business," he says. "It opened up a new world and I thought I would like to be part of that." As a 16-year-old schoolboy in Britain, Abhisit balanced football ("I like to think I was good!") with more worldly issues. He fondly remembers the visit of a young Democrat MP who posed for a photograph with him - current PM Chuan Leekpai. After studying for a Master's in economics at Oxford University and a stretch as a lecturer at Bangkok's Thammasat University, Abhisit won another photo op with Chuan when he was elected as a Democrat MP for Bangkok in March 1992. Heady pronouncements by the press that he may one day follow his mentor into the top job are something of an embarrassment to this modest father of two and devoted family man. "First you have to prove yourself," he says. Time and talent are on his side. By JULIAN GEARING Bangkok : Asiaweek August 15 Politics of HopeNowadays, I endeavour to pursue for political news espeacially
Thai and American.My idealiatic Thai politician is Mr. Abhisit
Hillary Rodham Clinton who tends to be next American president.
I have nothing to write except political issue so it may be
tedious for someone. I am a diehard of politics so never a day
without political news.If I'm walking down the right path
and I'm willing to keep walking, eventually I'll make progress.
Someday, if I have a good opportunity, I will be in politics arena
being a good politician.Ask not what your country can do for you--
ask what you can do for your country.I won't subvert the country
like someone who was deposed by the coup and now exile wherever.
Such a cynical politico!! I want to tell him that democracy is not
about voting. There are other prerequisites for democracy i.e.
a credible opposition; checks and balances; a free press; and
the rule of law free from intimidation. These are rarely found during
his incumbent. My conscience tells me to vote 'yes' in referendum
for our transparent and more stable politics. I'm not ab baewing!! |
|
|
