Rape: A Radical Analysis

From an African-American Perspective

[by Kalamu ya Salaam]

The struggle to eradicate sexism and develop African-American women is, in our opinion, a key and critical aspect of our people's struggle for a better and more beautiful life.

Sexism is the systematic repression and exploitation of one group of people by another group of people based on the criterion of sex. Sexism, as institutionalized in America today, manifests itself as the social and material male domination of women.

Sexism, like capitalism and racism, is a pervasive evil that must be rooted out and eradicated through conscious, uncompromising and consistent struggle. But smashing sexism will not be easy.

First, we must fight against the myth that sexism is not a major problem in the African-American community. Second, we must deepen our theoretical and analytical understanding of sexism so that we can know precisely how to proceed.

Our purpose in this presentation is to offer an analysis and theory of the phenomenon of rape, one of the most blatant and violent forms of sexual oppression. Hopefully this presentation will inspire women to fight back, will inspire men to be self-critical, and will inspire each reader to reassess their own thoughts and actions with respect to woman/man relationships in general and the sexist practice of rape in particular.


[Keep reading here]


Related post

Systematic Rape Reported on The Border Angola-DRC

From an African-American Perspective

[by Kalamu ya Salaam]

The struggle to eradicate sexism and develop African-American women is, in our opinion, a key and critical aspect of our people's struggle for a better and more beautiful life.

Sexism is the systematic repression and exploitation of one group of people by another group of people based on the criterion of sex. Sexism, as institutionalized in America today, manifests itself as the social and material male domination of women.

Sexism, like capitalism and racism, is a pervasive evil that must be rooted out and eradicated through conscious, uncompromising and consistent struggle. But smashing sexism will not be easy.

First, we must fight against the myth that sexism is not a major problem in the African-American community. Second, we must deepen our theoretical and analytical understanding of sexism so that we can know precisely how to proceed.

Our purpose in this presentation is to offer an analysis and theory of the phenomenon of rape, one of the most blatant and violent forms of sexual oppression. Hopefully this presentation will inspire women to fight back, will inspire men to be self-critical, and will inspire each reader to reassess their own thoughts and actions with respect to woman/man relationships in general and the sexist practice of rape in particular.


[Keep reading here]


Related post

Systematic Rape Reported on The Border Angola-DRC

ARIA by GROVER WASHINGTON, JR [R]*

*[Retomo hoje este post - first published 11/01/07 - por duas razoes: i) me parecer apropriado numa altura em que a musica, nas suas mais diversas vertentes, parece estar na ordem do dia em alguns circulos blogosfericos e jornalisticos (em particular depois da mais recente edicao do Luanda International Jazz Festival); ii) ja' me ser possivel colocar aqui as faixas do album originalmente mencionadas.]

“I started as a classical musician, and this album is something I’ve wanted to make for years. In many ways, I feel I’ve now come full circle in my music.”
- Grover Washington, Jr. -


Este e’ um daqueles albums que, para mim, tem a caracteristica particular de apelar tanto pelo seu conteudo, como pelas circunstancias da sua publicacao em 2000, pouco depois do falecimento subito e precoce de Grover Washington, Jr. em Dezembro de 1999, aos 56 anos de idade. Por isso trago-o aqui ao Spirited Sounds.

Grover, que recebeu a sua primeira licao de saxofone do seu pai, definia a sua musica como “pequenas estorias sem palavras”. Mas, para mim, nunca antes deste Aria tinha tal definicao sido tao bem expressa na sua carreira musical (que contou entre os seus pontos altos com uma celebre ‘jam session’ com o ex-Presidente Bill Clinton e alguns dos maiores nomes do Jazz como Herbie Hancock e Wynton Marsalis).

O album e’ composto totalmente de arias de algumas das mais conhecidas obras do reportorio operatico, mas sem a sua oratoria: precisamente, pequenas estorias sem palavras… Confesso que nunca fui uma particular apreciadora do genero operatico (talvez pelas mesmas razoes porque nunca fui uma particular apreciadora dos consagrados musicais londrinos...) e que foram sempre as arias que funcionaram como o “canto da sereia” para me atrair a qualquer opera – a este proposito, lembro-me de em 1991 ter ido, no que foi a minha primeira e unica ida a opera, ao New York Metropolitan Opera (onde, como se nao bastasse ser praticamente a unica negra, tive o "descaramento" de ir de jeans…) assistir a “La Traviatta”, tendo saido de la' menos entusiasmada do que era suposto …



Pois este album (do qual infelizmente nao posso colocar aqui nenhuma das peças... o que tambem tem o seu lado positivo porque podemos ouvir, em sua substituicao, algumas das arias incluidas no album nas suas versoes cantadas) tem a particularidade de funcionar perfeitamente para mim: abre precisamente com o perfeito canto da sereia, uma das minhas arias preferidas, ‘Je Crois Entendre Encore’, do “Les Pecheurs de Perles” de Bizet. Aprendi a cantar de cor essa aria (uma das duas que sei cantar de cor; a outra e’ a popular ‘Nesum Dorma’ de Puccini) ha varios anos, ouvindo e acompanhando a versao, em Italiano, do Ney Matogrosso no seu album “Pescador de Perolas” (1986) …

[Je Crois Entendre Encore - from Bizet's The Pearlfishers]


Depois, ha' uma em particular que, em qualquer circunstancia, nao posso contornar, just for the sheer pleasure of listening to it, esta:


[E Lucevan Le Stelle - from Puccini's Tosca]


Mas ha outra razao que me faz trazer Aria a este espaco: a relacao, algo polemica, entre o dito “Jazz” e a dita “Musica Classica”. A questao e’ sempre: onde, quando e como se separam as aguas entre os dois, para alem dos evidentes “marcadores” da improvisacao no primeiro e da rigorosa codificacao no segundo? Nao sei se alguem ja conseguiu dar uma resposta convincente a essa questao (vide, por exemplo, o que disse Nina Simone sobre o assunto…), mas, como dizem os Ingleses, “the proof is in the pudding”!


[My Man's Gone Now - from Gershwin's Porgy & Bess]

E o 'pudding' podem ser varias das obras do Miles ou, mais obviamente ainda, muitas das dos manos Wynton e Branford Marsalis… Anyway, oucamos como soam duas das arias da opera 'Porgy and Bess' nas suas versoes "jazzisticas" (a comecar por uma interpretacao do Grover nao incluida em Aria - a que vem incluida e' o My Man's Gone Now. A versao cantada do I Loves You Porgy pela Nina tambem pode ser ouvida atraves do link acima) e depois vejamos o que teem a dizer os experts:

“As Grover Washington, Jr. sees it, the lines between jazz soloist and opera singer are not as clear-cut as one might imagine. Opera is a musical genre that depends on narration, and Grover views his role as soloist -- be it here, or on one of his many celebrated jazz recordings -- as an impassioned narrator. In both cases, Grover says, "You're just trying to tell a story."


[Pourquoi Me Reveiller? - from Massenet's Werther]

Consider the case of Werther, an opera by Massenet, based on a novel by Goethe. Werther is the quintessential Romantic hero, and nowhere in the opera does Massenet come closer to Goethe's Romantic ideal than in "Pourquoi me reveiller?" ("Why do you wake me?"), an aria full of foreboding and sorrow. In Grover's hands, and supported by Robert Freedman's fine and spacious arrangement, the blues within the aria are revealed.


[O Mio Babbino Caro - from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi]

Grover is the ideal narrator for the stories on Aria. Performing here on soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, Grover draws upon his artistry as a melodist to capture the emotion and spirit of a dozen of opera's most beautiful arias, from Puccini's "O mio babbino caro" (Gianni Schicchi) to Delibes' "Flower Duet" (Lakme), all with a sensibility that is very much of our day.


[Flower Duet - from Delibes' Lakme']

And yet Aria is not simply a crossing over, any more than Miles Davis' and Gil Evans' exploration of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess was simply a cooled-up version of the opera. In Aria, Grover Washington, Jr. takes the rich breadth of feeling inherent in twelve extraordinary tunes, not so much translating them into the jazz idiom as revealing them for what they are -- gorgeous, transcendent melodies that speak as clearly through the bell of a saxophone as through the human voice.” (Jackson Braider)

“Grover's brilliant career had its foundation in the fusion of genres. Along with his inimitable sound and style, his music was most celebrated for its signature synthesis of jazz and rhythm & blues. Aria marked a fusion of another kind for Grover, one both new and natural to him, and one he was eager to share. Sadly, it was the last album he was to make, completed just four months to the day before his untimely death.


[Vissi d'Arte - from Puccini's Tosca]

While the album may strike many listeners as an unexpected departure, it in fact completes a circle which began when Grover first studied music -- classical music -- at Buffalo's Wurlitzer School of Music. Classical music remained his first love. (…) Genres aside, Grover's music was always essentially about one thing -- heart. It was the (un)common denominator that defined his life's work. Puccini's magnificent soprano aria from his opera Tosca begins, "Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore" ("I lived for art, I lived for love"). Grover Washington, Jr. did just that.” (Laraine Perri)

*[Retomo hoje este post - first published 11/01/07 - por duas razoes: i) me parecer apropriado numa altura em que a musica, nas suas mais diversas vertentes, parece estar na ordem do dia em alguns circulos blogosfericos e jornalisticos (em particular depois da mais recente edicao do Luanda International Jazz Festival); ii) ja' me ser possivel colocar aqui as faixas do album originalmente mencionadas.]

“I started as a classical musician, and this album is something I’ve wanted to make for years. In many ways, I feel I’ve now come full circle in my music.”
- Grover Washington, Jr. -


Este e’ um daqueles albums que, para mim, tem a caracteristica particular de apelar tanto pelo seu conteudo, como pelas circunstancias da sua publicacao em 2000, pouco depois do falecimento subito e precoce de Grover Washington, Jr. em Dezembro de 1999, aos 56 anos de idade. Por isso trago-o aqui ao Spirited Sounds.

Grover, que recebeu a sua primeira licao de saxofone do seu pai, definia a sua musica como “pequenas estorias sem palavras”. Mas, para mim, nunca antes deste Aria tinha tal definicao sido tao bem expressa na sua carreira musical (que contou entre os seus pontos altos com uma celebre ‘jam session’ com o ex-Presidente Bill Clinton e alguns dos maiores nomes do Jazz como Herbie Hancock e Wynton Marsalis).

O album e’ composto totalmente de arias de algumas das mais conhecidas obras do reportorio operatico, mas sem a sua oratoria: precisamente, pequenas estorias sem palavras… Confesso que nunca fui uma particular apreciadora do genero operatico (talvez pelas mesmas razoes porque nunca fui uma particular apreciadora dos consagrados musicais londrinos...) e que foram sempre as arias que funcionaram como o “canto da sereia” para me atrair a qualquer opera – a este proposito, lembro-me de em 1991 ter ido, no que foi a minha primeira e unica ida a opera, ao New York Metropolitan Opera (onde, como se nao bastasse ser praticamente a unica negra, tive o "descaramento" de ir de jeans…) assistir a “La Traviatta”, tendo saido de la' menos entusiasmada do que era suposto …



Pois este album (do qual infelizmente nao posso colocar aqui nenhuma das peças... o que tambem tem o seu lado positivo porque podemos ouvir, em sua substituicao, algumas das arias incluidas no album nas suas versoes cantadas) tem a particularidade de funcionar perfeitamente para mim: abre precisamente com o perfeito canto da sereia, uma das minhas arias preferidas, ‘Je Crois Entendre Encore’, do “Les Pecheurs de Perles” de Bizet. Aprendi a cantar de cor essa aria (uma das duas que sei cantar de cor; a outra e’ a popular ‘Nesum Dorma’ de Puccini) ha varios anos, ouvindo e acompanhando a versao, em Italiano, do Ney Matogrosso no seu album “Pescador de Perolas” (1986) …

[Je Crois Entendre Encore - from Bizet's The Pearlfishers]


Depois, ha' uma em particular que, em qualquer circunstancia, nao posso contornar, just for the sheer pleasure of listening to it, esta:


[E Lucevan Le Stelle - from Puccini's Tosca]


Mas ha outra razao que me faz trazer Aria a este espaco: a relacao, algo polemica, entre o dito “Jazz” e a dita “Musica Classica”. A questao e’ sempre: onde, quando e como se separam as aguas entre os dois, para alem dos evidentes “marcadores” da improvisacao no primeiro e da rigorosa codificacao no segundo? Nao sei se alguem ja conseguiu dar uma resposta convincente a essa questao (vide, por exemplo, o que disse Nina Simone sobre o assunto…), mas, como dizem os Ingleses, “the proof is in the pudding”!


[My Man's Gone Now - from Gershwin's Porgy & Bess]

E o 'pudding' podem ser varias das obras do Miles ou, mais obviamente ainda, muitas das dos manos Wynton e Branford Marsalis… Anyway, oucamos como soam duas das arias da opera 'Porgy and Bess' nas suas versoes "jazzisticas" (a comecar por uma interpretacao do Grover nao incluida em Aria - a que vem incluida e' o My Man's Gone Now. A versao cantada do I Loves You Porgy pela Nina tambem pode ser ouvida atraves do link acima) e depois vejamos o que teem a dizer os experts:

“As Grover Washington, Jr. sees it, the lines between jazz soloist and opera singer are not as clear-cut as one might imagine. Opera is a musical genre that depends on narration, and Grover views his role as soloist -- be it here, or on one of his many celebrated jazz recordings -- as an impassioned narrator. In both cases, Grover says, "You're just trying to tell a story."


[Pourquoi Me Reveiller? - from Massenet's Werther]

Consider the case of Werther, an opera by Massenet, based on a novel by Goethe. Werther is the quintessential Romantic hero, and nowhere in the opera does Massenet come closer to Goethe's Romantic ideal than in "Pourquoi me reveiller?" ("Why do you wake me?"), an aria full of foreboding and sorrow. In Grover's hands, and supported by Robert Freedman's fine and spacious arrangement, the blues within the aria are revealed.


[O Mio Babbino Caro - from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi]

Grover is the ideal narrator for the stories on Aria. Performing here on soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, Grover draws upon his artistry as a melodist to capture the emotion and spirit of a dozen of opera's most beautiful arias, from Puccini's "O mio babbino caro" (Gianni Schicchi) to Delibes' "Flower Duet" (Lakme), all with a sensibility that is very much of our day.


[Flower Duet - from Delibes' Lakme']

And yet Aria is not simply a crossing over, any more than Miles Davis' and Gil Evans' exploration of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess was simply a cooled-up version of the opera. In Aria, Grover Washington, Jr. takes the rich breadth of feeling inherent in twelve extraordinary tunes, not so much translating them into the jazz idiom as revealing them for what they are -- gorgeous, transcendent melodies that speak as clearly through the bell of a saxophone as through the human voice.” (Jackson Braider)

“Grover's brilliant career had its foundation in the fusion of genres. Along with his inimitable sound and style, his music was most celebrated for its signature synthesis of jazz and rhythm & blues. Aria marked a fusion of another kind for Grover, one both new and natural to him, and one he was eager to share. Sadly, it was the last album he was to make, completed just four months to the day before his untimely death.


[Vissi d'Arte - from Puccini's Tosca]

While the album may strike many listeners as an unexpected departure, it in fact completes a circle which began when Grover first studied music -- classical music -- at Buffalo's Wurlitzer School of Music. Classical music remained his first love. (…) Genres aside, Grover's music was always essentially about one thing -- heart. It was the (un)common denominator that defined his life's work. Puccini's magnificent soprano aria from his opera Tosca begins, "Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore" ("I lived for art, I lived for love"). Grover Washington, Jr. did just that.” (Laraine Perri)

On the 50th anniversary of Africa's 1st independent nation: Remembering Kwame Nkrumah [R]*

KWAME NKRUMAH (1909-1972)


Kwame Nkrumah, the leader of the Gold Coast's movement toward independence from Britain during the 1940s and '50s, headed the new nation of Ghana following its independence in 1957 until 1966, when he was overthrown by a coup.

Excerpt from "Commanding Heights" by Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw, 1998 ed., pp. 83-88. (Simon & Schuster, Inc., N.Y.)



-- In the period of [African colonial independence] the beacon country from Africa was Ghana, first to achieve independence in 1957. The new nation's most influential figure was its prime minister, later president, Kwame Nkrumah. When Nkrumah was born in 1910, Ghana was still the Gold Coast, a British colony known for its plantations and for being the world's largest producer of cocoa. Its frontiers were the result of bargains among the colonial powers - Britain, France, and Germany - that did not correspond to the historical boundaries of the kingdoms that preceded colonization, particularly the once-mighty Ashanti empire.

Nkrumah, who came from a modest, traditional family, received his early education at the hands of Catholic missionaries. He went on to train as a teacher and for a few years taught elementary school in towns along the coast. He was popular and charismatic, and earned a decent living. But exposure to politics and to a few influential figures sparked in him a greater interest - to go to America. He applied to universities in the United States, and with money raised from relatives, he set out on a steamer in 1935. He reached New York almost penniless, and took refuge with fellow West Africans in Harlem. He then presented himself at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and enrolled; a small scholarship and a campus job helped him make ends meet.

In the United States, Nkrumah saw alternatives to the British tradition of government. He also became suffused with an acute consciousness of the politics of race relations. Unlike many new African leaders, who sought to emulate their European instructors, Nkrumah plunged into America's black communities. Founded before the Civil War, Lincoln University was America's oldest black college, and its special atmosphere inspired and comforted Nkrumah. In the summers, he worked at physically demanding jobs - in shipyards and construction at sea. He studied theology as well as philosophy; he frequented the black churches in New York and Philadelphia and was sometimes asked to preach. He also forged ties with black American intellectuals, for whom Africa was becoming, in this time of political change, an area of extreme interest. Moving to London after World War II, Nkrumah helped organize Pan-African congresses, linking the emergent educated groups of the African colonies with activists, writers, artists, and well-wishers from the industrial countries. It was a time of great intellectual ferment, excitement, and optimism. India's achievement of independence in 1947 stirred dreams of freedom for the other colonies. "If we get self-government," Nkrumah proclaimed, "we'll transform the Gold Coast into a paradise in 10 years."

READ MORE HERE


*[First posted 17/03/07]

KWAME NKRUMAH (1909-1972)


Kwame Nkrumah, the leader of the Gold Coast's movement toward independence from Britain during the 1940s and '50s, headed the new nation of Ghana following its independence in 1957 until 1966, when he was overthrown by a coup.

Excerpt from "Commanding Heights" by Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw, 1998 ed., pp. 83-88. (Simon & Schuster, Inc., N.Y.)



-- In the period of [African colonial independence] the beacon country from Africa was Ghana, first to achieve independence in 1957. The new nation's most influential figure was its prime minister, later president, Kwame Nkrumah. When Nkrumah was born in 1910, Ghana was still the Gold Coast, a British colony known for its plantations and for being the world's largest producer of cocoa. Its frontiers were the result of bargains among the colonial powers - Britain, France, and Germany - that did not correspond to the historical boundaries of the kingdoms that preceded colonization, particularly the once-mighty Ashanti empire.

Nkrumah, who came from a modest, traditional family, received his early education at the hands of Catholic missionaries. He went on to train as a teacher and for a few years taught elementary school in towns along the coast. He was popular and charismatic, and earned a decent living. But exposure to politics and to a few influential figures sparked in him a greater interest - to go to America. He applied to universities in the United States, and with money raised from relatives, he set out on a steamer in 1935. He reached New York almost penniless, and took refuge with fellow West Africans in Harlem. He then presented himself at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and enrolled; a small scholarship and a campus job helped him make ends meet.

In the United States, Nkrumah saw alternatives to the British tradition of government. He also became suffused with an acute consciousness of the politics of race relations. Unlike many new African leaders, who sought to emulate their European instructors, Nkrumah plunged into America's black communities. Founded before the Civil War, Lincoln University was America's oldest black college, and its special atmosphere inspired and comforted Nkrumah. In the summers, he worked at physically demanding jobs - in shipyards and construction at sea. He studied theology as well as philosophy; he frequented the black churches in New York and Philadelphia and was sometimes asked to preach. He also forged ties with black American intellectuals, for whom Africa was becoming, in this time of political change, an area of extreme interest. Moving to London after World War II, Nkrumah helped organize Pan-African congresses, linking the emergent educated groups of the African colonies with activists, writers, artists, and well-wishers from the industrial countries. It was a time of great intellectual ferment, excitement, and optimism. India's achievement of independence in 1947 stirred dreams of freedom for the other colonies. "If we get self-government," Nkrumah proclaimed, "we'll transform the Gold Coast into a paradise in 10 years."

READ MORE HERE


*[First posted 17/03/07]

Algo que o 'Velho Marx' assinaria por baixo (?)...

From: "Barack Obama"
To: "Ana Santana"
Friday, 16 April, 2010 19:35

Wall Street reform

Ana --

It has now been well over a year since the near collapse of our entire financial system that cost the nation more than 8 million jobs. To this day, hard-working families struggle to make ends meet.

We've made strides -- businesses are starting to hire, Americans are finding jobs, and neighbors who had given up looking are returning to the job market with new hope. But the flaws in our financial system that led to this crisis remain unresolved.

Wall Street titans still recklessly speculate with borrowed money. Big banks and credit card companies stack the deck to earn millions while far too many middle-class families, who have done everything right, can barely pay their bills or save for a better future.

We cannot delay action any longer. It is time to hold the big banks accountable to the people they serve, establish the strongest consumer protections in our nation's history -- and ensure that taxpayers will never again be forced to bail out big banks because they are "too big to fail."

That is what Wall Street reform will achieve, why I am so committed to making it happen, and why I'm asking for your help today.

We know that without enforceable, commonsense rules to check abuse and protect families, markets are not truly free. Wall Street reform will foster a strong and vibrant financial sector so that businesses can get loans; families can afford mortgages; entrepreneurs can find the capital to start a new company, sell a new product, or offer a new service.

Consumer financial protections are currently spread across seven different government agencies. Wall Street reform will create one single Consumer Financial Protection Agency -- tasked with preventing predatory practices and making sure you get the clear information, not fine print, needed to avoid ballooning mortgage payments or credit card rate hikes.

Reform will provide crucial new oversight, give shareholders a say on salaries and bonuses, and create new tools to break up failing financial firms so that taxpayers aren't forced into another unfair bailout. And reform will keep our economy secure by ensuring that no single firm can bring down the whole financial system.

With so much at stake, it is not surprising that allies of the big banks and Wall Street lenders have already launched a multi-million-dollar ad campaign to fight these changes. Arm-twisting lobbyists are already storming Capitol Hill, seeking to undermine the strong bipartisan foundation of reform with loopholes and exemptions for the most egregious abusers of consumers.

I won't accept anything short of the full protection that our citizens deserve and our economy needs. It's a fight worth having, and it is a fight we can win -- if we stand up and speak out together.


Thank you,

President Barack Obama

From: "Barack Obama"
To: "Ana Santana"
Friday, 16 April, 2010 19:35

Wall Street reform

Ana --

It has now been well over a year since the near collapse of our entire financial system that cost the nation more than 8 million jobs. To this day, hard-working families struggle to make ends meet.

We've made strides -- businesses are starting to hire, Americans are finding jobs, and neighbors who had given up looking are returning to the job market with new hope. But the flaws in our financial system that led to this crisis remain unresolved.

Wall Street titans still recklessly speculate with borrowed money. Big banks and credit card companies stack the deck to earn millions while far too many middle-class families, who have done everything right, can barely pay their bills or save for a better future.

We cannot delay action any longer. It is time to hold the big banks accountable to the people they serve, establish the strongest consumer protections in our nation's history -- and ensure that taxpayers will never again be forced to bail out big banks because they are "too big to fail."

That is what Wall Street reform will achieve, why I am so committed to making it happen, and why I'm asking for your help today.

We know that without enforceable, commonsense rules to check abuse and protect families, markets are not truly free. Wall Street reform will foster a strong and vibrant financial sector so that businesses can get loans; families can afford mortgages; entrepreneurs can find the capital to start a new company, sell a new product, or offer a new service.

Consumer financial protections are currently spread across seven different government agencies. Wall Street reform will create one single Consumer Financial Protection Agency -- tasked with preventing predatory practices and making sure you get the clear information, not fine print, needed to avoid ballooning mortgage payments or credit card rate hikes.

Reform will provide crucial new oversight, give shareholders a say on salaries and bonuses, and create new tools to break up failing financial firms so that taxpayers aren't forced into another unfair bailout. And reform will keep our economy secure by ensuring that no single firm can bring down the whole financial system.

With so much at stake, it is not surprising that allies of the big banks and Wall Street lenders have already launched a multi-million-dollar ad campaign to fight these changes. Arm-twisting lobbyists are already storming Capitol Hill, seeking to undermine the strong bipartisan foundation of reform with loopholes and exemptions for the most egregious abusers of consumers.

I won't accept anything short of the full protection that our citizens deserve and our economy needs. It's a fight worth having, and it is a fight we can win -- if we stand up and speak out together.


Thank you,

President Barack Obama

CUBA! AFRICA! REVOLUTION! [R]*

[Em memoria da Batalha do Kuito Kwanavale]


A segunda parte desta serie foi exibida ontem, como previsto, e concentrou-se exclusivamente no periodo imediatamente anterior ao 11 de Novembro e ao pos-independencia de Angola.

Um dos primeiros intervenientes foi Jorge Valentim, que relatou o ambiente de desconfianca existente durante as negociacoes de Penina em que, citando-o, “no hotel de quatro andares em que as partes foram hospedadas, o r/c era destinado as reunioes plenarias, o primeiro andar a UNITA, o segundo a FNLA, o terceiro ao MPLA e o quarto aos Portugueses”… o que, para alem da ideia de hierarquia, tera’ criado nos hospedados nos primeiro e segundo andares um clima de suspeicao em relacao aos hospedados nos andares de cima ou, para usar a sua expressao, uma constante sensacao de “plotting going on up there”…

Outro interveniente pela UNITA foi Tony da Costa Fernandes, que relatou o encontro entre Savimbi e Reagan alguns anos mais tarde, ao fim do qual Reagan tera’ ordenado aos seus assistentes militares: “o homem quer os Stingers… nos nao os demos nem sequer aos nossos amigos Sul-Koreanos... but, if he wants the Stingers, give him the Stingers”! Outros intervenientes de destaque foram Ngola Kabango pela FNLA, Paulo Jorge, Ndalu e Onambwe pelo MPLA, Chester Crocker pelos Americanos, Jorge Risquet pelos Cubanos e Pik Botha pelos Sul-Africanos.

O episodio foi marcado por uma remarcavel boa disposicao, sobretudo por parte de Onambwe e Ndalu (“o sorriso dos vencedores”?), com anedotas a volta do relato de alguns dos episodios mais criticos do periodo em analise. Por qualquer razao, as anedotas foram quase todas a volta de charutos cubanos… Onambwe conta como Neto, que nunca tinha fumado na vida, uma vez acende um charuto cubano durante uma reuniao e quando da’ conta de que esta’ toda a gente a olhar para ele, levanta o charuto e diz: foi o Fidel que me mandou! ... Ndalu recorda a poluicao provocada nas salas de reunioes das negociacoes a volta da batalha do Kuito Kwanavale pelos charutos de Jorge Risquet, enquanto este explica que o fazia so’ para irritar Americanos e Sul-Africanos…

Uma das poucas anedotas que nao teve a ver com charutos cubanos foi contada por Crocker que recorda como era facil monitorar os movimentos dos cubanos: segundo ele, sempre que aparecia um campo de baseball algures, era sinal de que os cubanos tinham chegado, ou estavam para chegar, aquela localidade; sempre que desaparecia um campo de baseball, era porque os cubanos tinham abandonado a localidade... O que me fez lembrar de um "ditado", tipo nota "precaucionaria" para automobilistas, que se usava (sera' que ainda se usa?) la' na banda: "tal como atras de uma bola vem sempre uma crianca, atras de um porco vem sempre um cubano"!


Os momentos mais serios sao trazidos por Pik Botha que acusa Risquet de, para alem de poluir o ambiente com os seus charutos, ter sido “vicious” logo no inicio das tais reunioes, acusando os Sul-Africanos de serem “racistas, fascistas e de so’ provocarem dissabores onde quer que se envolvessem” (… como se isso fosse alguma mentira!). Entretanto, Ndalu recorda das mesmas reunioes, sempre com o seu sorriso, ter perguntado a Botha, depois de este ter acusado os Cubanos de “adoptarem falsa nacionalidade Angolana e de se casarem com Angolan(a)os para permanecerem em Angola”, “quantos negros estavam encarcerados na Africa do Sul”… ao que Botha tera’ arregacado as mangas e dito: “se eu fosse mais jovem, respondia a essa pergunta com socos! Eu nao tenho medo de ti!... Vamos la' para fora!...”

Mas no fim de tudo, Botha afirma que num dos bares do Cairo, onde teve lugar uma das ultimas sessoes das negociacoes despoletadas pela batalha do Kuito Kwanavale, ele tera’ dito a Risquet: “Ja’ imaginou que poderemos os dois sair vencedores desta disputa? Cuba retira-se e podera’ reclamar ter permitido a independencia da Namibia e eu posso voltar e dizer ao eleitorado branco Sul-Africano que nos livramos dos Cubanos. Isso fara’ de nos ambos vencedores!”… Ao que Risquet se tera’ engasgado na sua bebida e decidido ponderar sobre o assunto, dando lugar ao acordo que finalmente consagrou a total retirada das tropas Cubanas de Angola, a independencia da Namibia e a libertacao de Mandela...

O episodio termina com esta afirmacao de Risquet: “… de 24 de Abril de 1965, quando Che atravessou o Lago Tanganyka e chegou ao Congo, ate’ 25 de Maio de 1991, quando foi assinado o acordo de retirada das tropas Cubanas de Angola, transcorreu a grande epopeia de Cuba em Africa… exactamente um quarto de seculo, um ano, um mes e um dia!”

Entretanto, no computo final, pelo menos 10 mil Cubanos sao contabilizados como mortos em Angola...

E eu tive a oportunidade de ouvir algo de que quase me tinha esquecido: Fidel referir-se a nosotros como “los Angoleños”…

(Ler sobre a primeira parte aqui)


*[First posted 03/05/07]


Post relacionado: Jacob Zuma in Angola

[Em memoria da Batalha do Kuito Kwanavale]


A segunda parte desta serie foi exibida ontem, como previsto, e concentrou-se exclusivamente no periodo imediatamente anterior ao 11 de Novembro e ao pos-independencia de Angola.

Um dos primeiros intervenientes foi Jorge Valentim, que relatou o ambiente de desconfianca existente durante as negociacoes de Penina em que, citando-o, “no hotel de quatro andares em que as partes foram hospedadas, o r/c era destinado as reunioes plenarias, o primeiro andar a UNITA, o segundo a FNLA, o terceiro ao MPLA e o quarto aos Portugueses”… o que, para alem da ideia de hierarquia, tera’ criado nos hospedados nos primeiro e segundo andares um clima de suspeicao em relacao aos hospedados nos andares de cima ou, para usar a sua expressao, uma constante sensacao de “plotting going on up there”…

Outro interveniente pela UNITA foi Tony da Costa Fernandes, que relatou o encontro entre Savimbi e Reagan alguns anos mais tarde, ao fim do qual Reagan tera’ ordenado aos seus assistentes militares: “o homem quer os Stingers… nos nao os demos nem sequer aos nossos amigos Sul-Koreanos... but, if he wants the Stingers, give him the Stingers”! Outros intervenientes de destaque foram Ngola Kabango pela FNLA, Paulo Jorge, Ndalu e Onambwe pelo MPLA, Chester Crocker pelos Americanos, Jorge Risquet pelos Cubanos e Pik Botha pelos Sul-Africanos.

O episodio foi marcado por uma remarcavel boa disposicao, sobretudo por parte de Onambwe e Ndalu (“o sorriso dos vencedores”?), com anedotas a volta do relato de alguns dos episodios mais criticos do periodo em analise. Por qualquer razao, as anedotas foram quase todas a volta de charutos cubanos… Onambwe conta como Neto, que nunca tinha fumado na vida, uma vez acende um charuto cubano durante uma reuniao e quando da’ conta de que esta’ toda a gente a olhar para ele, levanta o charuto e diz: foi o Fidel que me mandou! ... Ndalu recorda a poluicao provocada nas salas de reunioes das negociacoes a volta da batalha do Kuito Kwanavale pelos charutos de Jorge Risquet, enquanto este explica que o fazia so’ para irritar Americanos e Sul-Africanos…

Uma das poucas anedotas que nao teve a ver com charutos cubanos foi contada por Crocker que recorda como era facil monitorar os movimentos dos cubanos: segundo ele, sempre que aparecia um campo de baseball algures, era sinal de que os cubanos tinham chegado, ou estavam para chegar, aquela localidade; sempre que desaparecia um campo de baseball, era porque os cubanos tinham abandonado a localidade... O que me fez lembrar de um "ditado", tipo nota "precaucionaria" para automobilistas, que se usava (sera' que ainda se usa?) la' na banda: "tal como atras de uma bola vem sempre uma crianca, atras de um porco vem sempre um cubano"!


Os momentos mais serios sao trazidos por Pik Botha que acusa Risquet de, para alem de poluir o ambiente com os seus charutos, ter sido “vicious” logo no inicio das tais reunioes, acusando os Sul-Africanos de serem “racistas, fascistas e de so’ provocarem dissabores onde quer que se envolvessem” (… como se isso fosse alguma mentira!). Entretanto, Ndalu recorda das mesmas reunioes, sempre com o seu sorriso, ter perguntado a Botha, depois de este ter acusado os Cubanos de “adoptarem falsa nacionalidade Angolana e de se casarem com Angolan(a)os para permanecerem em Angola”, “quantos negros estavam encarcerados na Africa do Sul”… ao que Botha tera’ arregacado as mangas e dito: “se eu fosse mais jovem, respondia a essa pergunta com socos! Eu nao tenho medo de ti!... Vamos la' para fora!...”

Mas no fim de tudo, Botha afirma que num dos bares do Cairo, onde teve lugar uma das ultimas sessoes das negociacoes despoletadas pela batalha do Kuito Kwanavale, ele tera’ dito a Risquet: “Ja’ imaginou que poderemos os dois sair vencedores desta disputa? Cuba retira-se e podera’ reclamar ter permitido a independencia da Namibia e eu posso voltar e dizer ao eleitorado branco Sul-Africano que nos livramos dos Cubanos. Isso fara’ de nos ambos vencedores!”… Ao que Risquet se tera’ engasgado na sua bebida e decidido ponderar sobre o assunto, dando lugar ao acordo que finalmente consagrou a total retirada das tropas Cubanas de Angola, a independencia da Namibia e a libertacao de Mandela...

O episodio termina com esta afirmacao de Risquet: “… de 24 de Abril de 1965, quando Che atravessou o Lago Tanganyka e chegou ao Congo, ate’ 25 de Maio de 1991, quando foi assinado o acordo de retirada das tropas Cubanas de Angola, transcorreu a grande epopeia de Cuba em Africa… exactamente um quarto de seculo, um ano, um mes e um dia!”

Entretanto, no computo final, pelo menos 10 mil Cubanos sao contabilizados como mortos em Angola...

E eu tive a oportunidade de ouvir algo de que quase me tinha esquecido: Fidel referir-se a nosotros como “los Angoleños”…

(Ler sobre a primeira parte aqui)


*[First posted 03/05/07]


Post relacionado: Jacob Zuma in Angola

HILLARY CLINTON IN ANGOLA

It is no secret to readers of this blog that I was no supporter of Hillary Clinton during the last American presidential race.
But, still, I did recognize her political and diplomatic strengths during the campaign, namely by saying here that “(...) overall, I think Hillary managed to 'win' even over Richardson on foreign policy, by putting a well articulated emphasis on diplomacy.”
I hope that her evidenced political and diplomatic skills serve both her country and mine well during her present visit to Angola.

It is no secret to readers of this blog that I was no supporter of Hillary Clinton during the last American presidential race.
But, still, I did recognize her political and diplomatic strengths during the campaign, namely by saying here that “(...) overall, I think Hillary managed to 'win' even over Richardson on foreign policy, by putting a well articulated emphasis on diplomacy.”
I hope that her evidenced political and diplomatic skills serve both her country and mine well during her present visit to Angola.

'DESEMBRULHANDO A CRISE' (I)

Sub-entitulei este blog “deitando contas a vida” porque, sendo economista de formacao e exercendo a minha actividade profissional geralmente em ambientes, ou com responsabilidades, que nao me conferem facilmente o tempo necessario ou um espaco que me permita dedicar-me a outros interesses que sempre tive ao longo da vida e que durante varios anos tive que deixar completamente negligenciados, sentia necessidade de arranjar esse tempo e espaco.

Por isso a criacao deste blog, como um lugar onde pudesse fazer, dizer e discutir o que me desse ‘na real gana’, sem grandes formalidades ou preocupacoes de rigor profissional, academico ou diplomatico, mantendo embora a seriedade e honestidade que julgo serem devidas a qualquer espaco de publicacao. Portanto, como economista, se viesse a “deitar contas” a alguma coisa neste espaco seria apenas, e muito informalmente, “a vida” tomada na sua forma mais geral, despreocupada e descomprometida possivel.

Por essa razao, tenho evitado, tanto quanto possivel, trazer para aqui questoes que sejam, directa ou indirectamente, do meu ambito profissional. Assim, alguns dos artigos ou outros materiais de minha autoria sobre questoes relativas a economia ou a historia economica que aqui postei, ou ja’ tinham sido publicados noutros espacos, ou, se escritos durante a existencia deste blog, preferi publica-los noutros espacos online, como o Africanpath ou o Atlantic Community.

Vem isto em geito de introducao a esta nova serie, que entitulo ‘desembrulhando a crise’, porque pretendo com ela fazer isso mesmo: tentar desembrulhar os varios aspectos da actual crise economica global, quanto mais nao seja porque, como nenhuma outra na memoria recente, ela tem tido e vai continuar a ter por tempo ainda dificil de predizer os mais diversos impactos na vida de todos nos de forma geral, tornando-a menos despreocupada e descomprometida do que muito provavelmente todos gostariamos. Tentarei faze-lo malembe malembe, como convem a natureza das questoes envolvidas e ao tempo de que disponho, evitando, no entanto, o mais possivel, torna-la demasiado academica ou profissional, ate’ porque isso apenas “embrulharia” ainda mais as questoes em causa.

I. De ‘gigantes com pes de barro’, ‘tigres de papel’ e ‘baloes de ar rarefeito’

Como todos ja’ sabemos, os sinais mais preocupantes desta crise comecaram a anunciar-se ha’ pouco mais de um ano nos EUA, com o que ficou conhecido como a crise do “sub-prime”. O credito "sub-prime" (ou sub-prime lending) no mercado imobiliario e’ geralmente entendido como emprestimos habitacionais concedidos a individuos com um baixo credit rating (ou seja, que por varias razoes, desde relativamente baixos salarios e/ou inseguras fontes de rendimento a falta de pagamento de creditos anteriores, normalmente nao teriam acesso ao credito bancario para tais, ou mesmo outros, efeitos). O termo tambem se aplica a transaccoes financeiras sobre propriedades com um valor real, ou potencial, inferior aquele pelo qual tenham sido incialmente quotadas. A circunstancia de tao grande numero de propriedades ter caido nessa categoria nos EUA deveu-se fundamentalmente a duas ordens de factores:

1. Os bancos, de forma alarmantemente generalizada, vinham concedendo credito para a compra de habitacoes a segmentos populacionais que nao tinham condicoes reais de as pagar, isto e’, que caiam na categoria do sub-prime lending. Essa pratica tornou-se ainda mais danosa quando, como se verificou em muitos casos, se estendeu a habitacoes de baixo valor patrimonial, quer intrinseco, quer em termos da sua localizacao, as quais, caso os bancos credores tivessem – como foram tendo num relativamente curto espaco de tempo, a medida que os niveis de desemprego se iam tornando cada vez mais elevados –, necessidade de as retomar (atraves das chamadas foreclosures, ou execucao contenciosa de hipotecas) para as revenderem no mercado, nao lhes renderiam o suficiente, isto se lhes rendessem alguma coisa, para cobrirem as perdas devidas ao mau credito inicial que sobre elas tinham feito.

A piorar a situacao, a recessao que se vinha instalando noutros sectores da economia, fez com que grande numero de propriedades, mesmo com relativamente maior valor patrimonial, tambem se tornassem ‘pesos mortos’ nos seus inventarios e balancos, porque se colocadas ou recolocadas no mercado, quer primario (as casas propriamente ditas a novos compradores), quer secundario (as hipotecas, ou mortgages, das casas a outros agentes do sistema financeiro) dificilmente viriam a encontrar oportunidades de transaccao viaveis ou suficientemente lucrativas.

2. Paralelamente a divida contraida para a compra de habitacoes, os consumidores, no mercado sub-prime e nao so, foram tambem adquirindo do sistema financeiro outros creditos para consumo, ou para investimento pessoal (e.g. seguros de vida, ou para cuidados de saude e tratamento hospitalar – de notar que os EUA nao teem um servico publico de saude), em certos casos com base nas hipotecas de tais habitacoes, mesmo quando ainda nao as tivessem pago completamente, o que veio “embrulhar” ainda mais a crise. A este ponto voltarei mais tarde.

Esta crise remete-nos para a pedra basilar do funcionamento do sistema bancario ou, dito de outro modo, para a regra de ouro da concessao de credito: o emprestimo de qualquer valor monetario por qualquer credor, banco ou outro agente financeiro, tem que ter por base um valor real, que sirva de garantia para o reembolso de tal emprestimo, por parte do devedor. Isto e’, nao deve haver credito sem ‘colateral’ (ou seja, um bem tangivel que, no caso da actual crise, sao ou seriam as habitacoes sobre as quais os emprestimos privados, quer em termos de quantias monetarias, quer sob a forma de cartoes de credito, foram concedidos).

Ora, essa regra de ouro foi violada seria e serialmente pelo sistema bancario Americano que, ao faze-lo e perante uma recessao generalizada da economia, ficou exposto como um ‘gigante com pes de barro’, ‘tigre de papel’ ou ‘balao de ar rarefeito’: isto e’, perante a contraccao da economia real (devido ao que se poderia classificar como a ‘rarefaccao do oxigenio’ criado pelo emprego, a produtividade, o investimento e, em consequencia destes, pelo crescimento economico), o sistema financeiro – incluindo todos os seus sectores: o primario, constituido essencialmente pelos bancos comerciais e de credito (os que sustentam a chamada main street, ou seja, qualquer 'rua principal' onde se fazem os negocios particulares do dia a dia); o secundario, constituido essencialmente pelas companhias de seguros e resseguros (como a American International Group, AIG, operando sobretudo no seguro de bancos) e instituicoes operando na concessao de garantias a emprestimos (como a Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, mais conhecida como Freddie Mac, e a Federal National Mortgage Association, mais conhecida como Fannie Mae); o terciario, constituido pelas bolsas de valores (proeminentemente a de Wall Street, ‘reinado’ de investidores como Lehman Brothers e Merril Lynch) e, ultimamente, com a aprovacao da ‘boia de salvacao’ de 700 bilioes de dolares pelo governo, ate’ o ‘emprestador de ultimo recurso’ do sistema, isto e’, o Banco Central (Federal Reserve, Fed) –, deixou de ter terra firme (os bens tangiveis, as casas) em que assentar os pes, transaccionando apenas com base em ‘papeis’ (notas de credito) sem qualquer valor real. Dai as falencias em catadupa de todos os operadores financeiros acima citados, uns completamente, outros temporariamente salvos pelo FED.

Essa, do meu ponto de vista, a essencia da crise que se vem desenrolando aos nossos olhos.

Se ha’ uma licao basica a retirar dela, e’ que nenhuma economia se pode dar ao luxo de perder o equilibrio essencial entre o sector de bens (e servicos) e o sector das financas, ou seja, entre a economia real e a economia monetaria. Este ‘lembrete’ torna-se particularmente relevante para algumas das questoes que levantei, bastante antes desta crise, no meu artigo “Politica Futebol e Algumas Consideracoes sobre a Actual Conjuntura Economica Angolana”.

A elas voltarei.

Sub-entitulei este blog “deitando contas a vida” porque, sendo economista de formacao e exercendo a minha actividade profissional geralmente em ambientes, ou com responsabilidades, que nao me conferem facilmente o tempo necessario ou um espaco que me permita dedicar-me a outros interesses que sempre tive ao longo da vida e que durante varios anos tive que deixar completamente negligenciados, sentia necessidade de arranjar esse tempo e espaco.

Por isso a criacao deste blog, como um lugar onde pudesse fazer, dizer e discutir o que me desse ‘na real gana’, sem grandes formalidades ou preocupacoes de rigor profissional, academico ou diplomatico, mantendo embora a seriedade e honestidade que julgo serem devidas a qualquer espaco de publicacao. Portanto, como economista, se viesse a “deitar contas” a alguma coisa neste espaco seria apenas, e muito informalmente, “a vida” tomada na sua forma mais geral, despreocupada e descomprometida possivel.

Por essa razao, tenho evitado, tanto quanto possivel, trazer para aqui questoes que sejam, directa ou indirectamente, do meu ambito profissional. Assim, alguns dos artigos ou outros materiais de minha autoria sobre questoes relativas a economia ou a historia economica que aqui postei, ou ja’ tinham sido publicados noutros espacos, ou, se escritos durante a existencia deste blog, preferi publica-los noutros espacos online, como o Africanpath ou o Atlantic Community.

Vem isto em geito de introducao a esta nova serie, que entitulo ‘desembrulhando a crise’, porque pretendo com ela fazer isso mesmo: tentar desembrulhar os varios aspectos da actual crise economica global, quanto mais nao seja porque, como nenhuma outra na memoria recente, ela tem tido e vai continuar a ter por tempo ainda dificil de predizer os mais diversos impactos na vida de todos nos de forma geral, tornando-a menos despreocupada e descomprometida do que muito provavelmente todos gostariamos. Tentarei faze-lo malembe malembe, como convem a natureza das questoes envolvidas e ao tempo de que disponho, evitando, no entanto, o mais possivel, torna-la demasiado academica ou profissional, ate’ porque isso apenas “embrulharia” ainda mais as questoes em causa.

I. De ‘gigantes com pes de barro’, ‘tigres de papel’ e ‘baloes de ar rarefeito’

Como todos ja’ sabemos, os sinais mais preocupantes desta crise comecaram a anunciar-se ha’ pouco mais de um ano nos EUA, com o que ficou conhecido como a crise do “sub-prime”. O credito "sub-prime" (ou sub-prime lending) no mercado imobiliario e’ geralmente entendido como emprestimos habitacionais concedidos a individuos com um baixo credit rating (ou seja, que por varias razoes, desde relativamente baixos salarios e/ou inseguras fontes de rendimento a falta de pagamento de creditos anteriores, normalmente nao teriam acesso ao credito bancario para tais, ou mesmo outros, efeitos). O termo tambem se aplica a transaccoes financeiras sobre propriedades com um valor real, ou potencial, inferior aquele pelo qual tenham sido incialmente quotadas. A circunstancia de tao grande numero de propriedades ter caido nessa categoria nos EUA deveu-se fundamentalmente a duas ordens de factores:

1. Os bancos, de forma alarmantemente generalizada, vinham concedendo credito para a compra de habitacoes a segmentos populacionais que nao tinham condicoes reais de as pagar, isto e’, que caiam na categoria do sub-prime lending. Essa pratica tornou-se ainda mais danosa quando, como se verificou em muitos casos, se estendeu a habitacoes de baixo valor patrimonial, quer intrinseco, quer em termos da sua localizacao, as quais, caso os bancos credores tivessem – como foram tendo num relativamente curto espaco de tempo, a medida que os niveis de desemprego se iam tornando cada vez mais elevados –, necessidade de as retomar (atraves das chamadas foreclosures, ou execucao contenciosa de hipotecas) para as revenderem no mercado, nao lhes renderiam o suficiente, isto se lhes rendessem alguma coisa, para cobrirem as perdas devidas ao mau credito inicial que sobre elas tinham feito.

A piorar a situacao, a recessao que se vinha instalando noutros sectores da economia, fez com que grande numero de propriedades, mesmo com relativamente maior valor patrimonial, tambem se tornassem ‘pesos mortos’ nos seus inventarios e balancos, porque se colocadas ou recolocadas no mercado, quer primario (as casas propriamente ditas a novos compradores), quer secundario (as hipotecas, ou mortgages, das casas a outros agentes do sistema financeiro) dificilmente viriam a encontrar oportunidades de transaccao viaveis ou suficientemente lucrativas.

2. Paralelamente a divida contraida para a compra de habitacoes, os consumidores, no mercado sub-prime e nao so, foram tambem adquirindo do sistema financeiro outros creditos para consumo, ou para investimento pessoal (e.g. seguros de vida, ou para cuidados de saude e tratamento hospitalar – de notar que os EUA nao teem um servico publico de saude), em certos casos com base nas hipotecas de tais habitacoes, mesmo quando ainda nao as tivessem pago completamente, o que veio “embrulhar” ainda mais a crise. A este ponto voltarei mais tarde.

Esta crise remete-nos para a pedra basilar do funcionamento do sistema bancario ou, dito de outro modo, para a regra de ouro da concessao de credito: o emprestimo de qualquer valor monetario por qualquer credor, banco ou outro agente financeiro, tem que ter por base um valor real, que sirva de garantia para o reembolso de tal emprestimo, por parte do devedor. Isto e’, nao deve haver credito sem ‘colateral’ (ou seja, um bem tangivel que, no caso da actual crise, sao ou seriam as habitacoes sobre as quais os emprestimos privados, quer em termos de quantias monetarias, quer sob a forma de cartoes de credito, foram concedidos).

Ora, essa regra de ouro foi violada seria e serialmente pelo sistema bancario Americano que, ao faze-lo e perante uma recessao generalizada da economia, ficou exposto como um ‘gigante com pes de barro’, ‘tigre de papel’ ou ‘balao de ar rarefeito’: isto e’, perante a contraccao da economia real (devido ao que se poderia classificar como a ‘rarefaccao do oxigenio’ criado pelo emprego, a produtividade, o investimento e, em consequencia destes, pelo crescimento economico), o sistema financeiro – incluindo todos os seus sectores: o primario, constituido essencialmente pelos bancos comerciais e de credito (os que sustentam a chamada main street, ou seja, qualquer 'rua principal' onde se fazem os negocios particulares do dia a dia); o secundario, constituido essencialmente pelas companhias de seguros e resseguros (como a American International Group, AIG, operando sobretudo no seguro de bancos) e instituicoes operando na concessao de garantias a emprestimos (como a Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, mais conhecida como Freddie Mac, e a Federal National Mortgage Association, mais conhecida como Fannie Mae); o terciario, constituido pelas bolsas de valores (proeminentemente a de Wall Street, ‘reinado’ de investidores como Lehman Brothers e Merril Lynch) e, ultimamente, com a aprovacao da ‘boia de salvacao’ de 700 bilioes de dolares pelo governo, ate’ o ‘emprestador de ultimo recurso’ do sistema, isto e’, o Banco Central (Federal Reserve, Fed) –, deixou de ter terra firme (os bens tangiveis, as casas) em que assentar os pes, transaccionando apenas com base em ‘papeis’ (notas de credito) sem qualquer valor real. Dai as falencias em catadupa de todos os operadores financeiros acima citados, uns completamente, outros temporariamente salvos pelo FED.

Essa, do meu ponto de vista, a essencia da crise que se vem desenrolando aos nossos olhos.

Se ha’ uma licao basica a retirar dela, e’ que nenhuma economia se pode dar ao luxo de perder o equilibrio essencial entre o sector de bens (e servicos) e o sector das financas, ou seja, entre a economia real e a economia monetaria. Este ‘lembrete’ torna-se particularmente relevante para algumas das questoes que levantei, bastante antes desta crise, no meu artigo “Politica Futebol e Algumas Consideracoes sobre a Actual Conjuntura Economica Angolana”.

A elas voltarei.

HERE'S SOME COMPULSORY VIEWING...

THE BLACK IN AMERICA SERIES ON CNN

This time the word compulsory is actually meant for everyone - Black and White, American or not! Except maybe for those of you who only have eyes for Obama in Germany today...
I watched the first part of this series ("Black Women & Family") yesterday and am looking forward to the second part ("The Black Man") this evening. Watch it if you can!

THE BLACK IN AMERICA SERIES ON CNN

This time the word compulsory is actually meant for everyone - Black and White, American or not! Except maybe for those of you who only have eyes for Obama in Germany today...
I watched the first part of this series ("Black Women & Family") yesterday and am looking forward to the second part ("The Black Man") this evening. Watch it if you can!

OBAMA VS. CLINTON: THE MOTHER OF ALL BATTLES - THE GRAND FINALE! (14)

YES!!!

It's Our Time

Wednesday, 4 June, 2008 4:19 AM
From:
"Barack Obama"
To:
"Ana Santana"

Ana --

I'm about to take the stage in St. Paul and announce that we have won the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
It's been a long journey, and we should all pause to thank Hillary Clinton, who made history in this campaign. Our party and our country are better off because of her.
I want to make sure you understand what's ahead of us. Earlier tonight, John McCain outlined a vision of America that's very different from ours -- a vision that continues the disastrous policies of George W. Bush.
But this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past and bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.
It's going to take hard work, but thanks to you and millions of other donors and volunteers, no one has ever been more prepared for such a challenge.
Thank you for everything you've done to get us here. Let's keep making history.

Barack

[ Watch/Read Speech Here]

Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 op.125, "Choral" - Presto

Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 op.125, "Choral" - Allegro assai

YES!!!

It's Our Time

Wednesday, 4 June, 2008 4:19 AM
From:
"Barack Obama"
To:
"Ana Santana"

Ana --

I'm about to take the stage in St. Paul and announce that we have won the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
It's been a long journey, and we should all pause to thank Hillary Clinton, who made history in this campaign. Our party and our country are better off because of her.
I want to make sure you understand what's ahead of us. Earlier tonight, John McCain outlined a vision of America that's very different from ours -- a vision that continues the disastrous policies of George W. Bush.
But this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past and bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.
It's going to take hard work, but thanks to you and millions of other donors and volunteers, no one has ever been more prepared for such a challenge.
Thank you for everything you've done to get us here. Let's keep making history.

Barack

[ Watch/Read Speech Here]

Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 op.125, "Choral" - Presto

Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 op.125, "Choral" - Allegro assai

OBAMA VS. CLINTON: THE MOTHER OF ALL BATTLES! (12)

'THE BOUNCE'

From: "Barack Obama"
To: "Ana Santana"

Ana --

We just won a decisive victory in North Carolina thanks to people like you.

Indiana remains too close to call. But what is clear is that we did much better than all the pundits predicted, despite Republicans changing parties to support Senator Clinton, believing she would be easier for Senator McCain to defeat.

Here's where we stand.

As of Tuesday morning, we needed just 273 delegates to clinch the nomination. When the votes are fully counted Wednesday morning, we will have gained more than a third of them in a single day.

We have a clear path to victory. But now is the time for each one of us to step up and do what we can to close out this primary.

Thank you for everything you're doing,

Barack

'THE BOUNCE'

From: "Barack Obama"
To: "Ana Santana"

Ana --

We just won a decisive victory in North Carolina thanks to people like you.

Indiana remains too close to call. But what is clear is that we did much better than all the pundits predicted, despite Republicans changing parties to support Senator Clinton, believing she would be easier for Senator McCain to defeat.

Here's where we stand.

As of Tuesday morning, we needed just 273 delegates to clinch the nomination. When the votes are fully counted Wednesday morning, we will have gained more than a third of them in a single day.

We have a clear path to victory. But now is the time for each one of us to step up and do what we can to close out this primary.

Thank you for everything you're doing,

Barack

STILL DREAMING AFTER ALL THESE (40) YEARS

Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 11:10:11 -0400
To: "Ana Santana"
From: "Michelle Obama"
Subject: Yes, they can

Ana --
Today is the 40th anniversary of the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and I want to share a video that reveals how far we've come and how much this campaign owes to Dr. King's legacy.
Students at a high school in the Bronx, who had no real interest in their government, have found new hope. They were surprised by their own excitement and engagement, but to me, they embody so many reasons why Barack and I decided to get into this campaign.
It's truly moving to see young people inspired by a political leader -- someone who gives them hope and reminds them that they can be anything they want to be if they work hard.
Watch what these kids have to say about politics and race in this country:

http://my.barackobama.com/yestheycan

Much has changed in this country since Dr. King's death, and thanks to his life and work we have taken critical strides towards racial equality.
The simple fact that Barack is running a competitive campaign for President is a direct result of Dr. King's legacy -- and this movement for change would be impossible without the support of people of all races, ages, and backgrounds.
I remember back in December of 2006, a group of us were discussing the possibility of Barack running for President. And as you might have read, I was hesitant about the idea.
But then Barack started talking about why he really wanted to do this -- to bring people together and to change the tone of the way we talk to each other in this country. He talked about the need for people to be inspired by their leaders, and the importance of leadership to chart a different course. He talked about Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy, and their passion to challenge a new generation and provide them with role models.
Barack promised that as a candidate and as President he would do everything he could to bring new people to the table. He shared his desire to reach out to our neglected inner cities, to strive to be a role model for young people, and to connect with people who are not involved in politics -- those who feel their voices haven't been heard, those who have been left behind, and those who have been turned off by all the petty bickering in recent years.
We can change that, by standing on the shoulders of folks like Dr. King who came before us.
Watching these students who are excited about their own role in politics for the first time, and watching Barack as he strives to live up to the challenges Dr. King made possible, I am truly touched.
I hope you'll watch this video and share that feeling with your friends and family:
http://my.barackobama.com/yestheycan

Thank you,
Michelle Obama

Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 11:10:11 -0400
To: "Ana Santana"
From: "Michelle Obama"
Subject: Yes, they can

Ana --
Today is the 40th anniversary of the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and I want to share a video that reveals how far we've come and how much this campaign owes to Dr. King's legacy.
Students at a high school in the Bronx, who had no real interest in their government, have found new hope. They were surprised by their own excitement and engagement, but to me, they embody so many reasons why Barack and I decided to get into this campaign.
It's truly moving to see young people inspired by a political leader -- someone who gives them hope and reminds them that they can be anything they want to be if they work hard.
Watch what these kids have to say about politics and race in this country:

http://my.barackobama.com/yestheycan

Much has changed in this country since Dr. King's death, and thanks to his life and work we have taken critical strides towards racial equality.
The simple fact that Barack is running a competitive campaign for President is a direct result of Dr. King's legacy -- and this movement for change would be impossible without the support of people of all races, ages, and backgrounds.
I remember back in December of 2006, a group of us were discussing the possibility of Barack running for President. And as you might have read, I was hesitant about the idea.
But then Barack started talking about why he really wanted to do this -- to bring people together and to change the tone of the way we talk to each other in this country. He talked about the need for people to be inspired by their leaders, and the importance of leadership to chart a different course. He talked about Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy, and their passion to challenge a new generation and provide them with role models.
Barack promised that as a candidate and as President he would do everything he could to bring new people to the table. He shared his desire to reach out to our neglected inner cities, to strive to be a role model for young people, and to connect with people who are not involved in politics -- those who feel their voices haven't been heard, those who have been left behind, and those who have been turned off by all the petty bickering in recent years.
We can change that, by standing on the shoulders of folks like Dr. King who came before us.
Watching these students who are excited about their own role in politics for the first time, and watching Barack as he strives to live up to the challenges Dr. King made possible, I am truly touched.
I hope you'll watch this video and share that feeling with your friends and family:
http://my.barackobama.com/yestheycan

Thank you,
Michelle Obama

OUTBLOGGING @ AFRICANPATH (IX)

THE RACE DEBATE IN AMERICA: WHAT LESSONS FOR AFRICA?

The current U.S. Presidential contest was marked, during the first few months, by its African-American protagonist’s repeated (re)assurances to the American electorate that his run was all but about race. And, it has to be recognised, for the most part the said protagonist, Barack Obama, has been hugely successful at it. However, developments in the last few weeks, culminating with his memorable speech “A More Perfect Union”, put the race and identity debate firmly back on the agenda and (re)assured us all, in and outside America, that this presidential campaign is as much about race as it is about gender, or about war and peace, or about economic prosperity or decline. In his own words: “(…) race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality. (…) But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.”

[Keep Reading Here or Here]

THE RACE DEBATE IN AMERICA: WHAT LESSONS FOR AFRICA?

The current U.S. Presidential contest was marked, during the first few months, by its African-American protagonist’s repeated (re)assurances to the American electorate that his run was all but about race. And, it has to be recognised, for the most part the said protagonist, Barack Obama, has been hugely successful at it. However, developments in the last few weeks, culminating with his memorable speech “A More Perfect Union”, put the race and identity debate firmly back on the agenda and (re)assured us all, in and outside America, that this presidential campaign is as much about race as it is about gender, or about war and peace, or about economic prosperity or decline. In his own words: “(…) race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality. (…) But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.”

[Keep Reading Here or Here]

ON OBAMA'S FAMILY

"So there I was, a couple of weeks back, sitting under a mango tree in western Kenya, when Senator Barack Obama’s half-sister Auma says to me:
'My daughter’s father is British. My mom’s brother is married to a Russian. I have a brother in China engaged to a Chinese woman.'
My understanding is that this half brother living in China is Mark. He’s the son of Obama’s father and an American woman named Ruth, whom Obama Sr. met while at Harvard in the 1960s and brought back to Kenya.
That was after his marriage with Obama’s mother in Hawaii ended. Another son from the union with Ruth, called David, was killed in a motorcycle accident. In all, Obama Sr. fathered eight children by four women.
I’ve been thinking about this because not enough has been written about Obama’s family. As Auma suggested, it’s unusual in the extent of its continent-crossing, religion-melding, color-fusing richness. But the Benetton-ad family is less unusual than it may seem. This is the age of globalized, far-flung families. Remittances make the world go round.
More needs to be written because if Obama gets the Democratic nomination, you know the Republican attack machine, through innuendo and otherwise, will go after his identity, just as it went after Senator John Kerry’s in 2004."

{Keep reading here}

"So there I was, a couple of weeks back, sitting under a mango tree in western Kenya, when Senator Barack Obama’s half-sister Auma says to me:
'My daughter’s father is British. My mom’s brother is married to a Russian. I have a brother in China engaged to a Chinese woman.'
My understanding is that this half brother living in China is Mark. He’s the son of Obama’s father and an American woman named Ruth, whom Obama Sr. met while at Harvard in the 1960s and brought back to Kenya.
That was after his marriage with Obama’s mother in Hawaii ended. Another son from the union with Ruth, called David, was killed in a motorcycle accident. In all, Obama Sr. fathered eight children by four women.
I’ve been thinking about this because not enough has been written about Obama’s family. As Auma suggested, it’s unusual in the extent of its continent-crossing, religion-melding, color-fusing richness. But the Benetton-ad family is less unusual than it may seem. This is the age of globalized, far-flung families. Remittances make the world go round.
More needs to be written because if Obama gets the Democratic nomination, you know the Republican attack machine, through innuendo and otherwise, will go after his identity, just as it went after Senator John Kerry’s in 2004."

{Keep reading here}

THE WAR ON IRAQ 5 YEARS ON

Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:13:44 -0400
To: "Ana Santana"
From: "Barack Obama"
Subject: Five years later

Dear Ana,

Five years ago today, President George W. Bush launched a war that should never have been authorized based on faulty premises and bad intelligence.
This war has now lasted longer than World War I, World War II, or the Civil War.
Nearly four thousand Americans have given their lives. Thousands more have been wounded. Even under the best-case scenarios, this war will cost American taxpayers well over a trillion dollars.
And where are we for all of this sacrifice?
We are less safe and less able to shape events abroad. We are divided at home, and our alliances around the world have been strained. The threats of a new century have roiled the waters of peace and stability, and yet America remains anchored in Iraq.
I am running for President because it's time to turn the page on a failed ideology and a fundamentally flawed political strategy, so that we can make pragmatic judgments to keep our country safe.
That's what I did when I stood up and opposed this war from the start and said that we needed to finish the fight against al Qaeda. And that's what I'll do as President of the United States.
Please take a few minutes to read my strategy for ending the war in Iraq and making America safer.
Senator Clinton says that she and Senator McCain have passed a "Commander-in-Chief test" -- not because of the judgments they've made, but because of the years they've spent in Washington.
She made a similar argument when she said her vote for war was based on her experience at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
But here is the stark reality: there is a security gap in this country -- a gap between the rhetoric of those who claim to be tough on national security, and the reality of growing insecurity caused by their decisions.
It is time to have a debate with Senator McCain about the future of our national security. And the way to win that debate and keep America safe is to offer a clear contrast -- a clean break from the failed policies and politics of the past.
Nowhere is that break more badly needed than in Iraq.
The judgment that matters most on Iraq -- and on any decision to deploy military force -- is the judgment made first.
If you believe we are fighting the right war, then the problems we face are purely tactical in nature. That is what Senator McCain wants to discuss -- tactics. What he and the Administration have failed to present is an overarching strategy: how the war in Iraq enhances our long-term security, or will in the future.
That's why this Administration cannot answer the simple question posed by Senator John Warner in hearings last year: Are we safer because of this war? And that is why Senator McCain can argue -- as he did last year -- that we couldn't leave Iraq because violence was up, and then argue this year that we can't leave Iraq because violence is down.
When you have no overarching strategy, there is no clear definition of success.
Success comes to be defined as the ability to maintain a flawed policy indefinitely. Here is the truth: fighting a war without end will not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. And fighting in a war without end will not make the American people safer.
When I am Commander-in-Chief, I will set a new goal on Day One: I will end this war. Not because politics compels it. Not because our troops cannot bear the burden -- as heavy as it is. But because it is the right thing to do for our national security, and it will ultimately make us safer.

Here are the core elements of my strategy to address our critical national security challenges in the 21st century:

• End the war in Iraq, removing our troops at a pace of 1 to 2 combat brigades per month;
• Finally finish the fight against the Taliban, root out al Qaeda and invest in the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, while making aid to the Pakistani government conditional;
• Act aggressively to stop nuclear proliferation and to secure all loose nuclear materials around the world;
• Double our foreign assistance to cut extreme poverty in half;
• Invest in a clean energy future to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil and to lead the world against the threat of global climate change;
• Rebuild our military capability by increasing the number of soldiers, marines, and special forces troops, and insist on adequate training and time off between deployments;
• Renew American diplomacy by talking to our adversaries as well as our friends; increasing the size of the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps; and creating an America's Voice Corps.

Please take a minute to show your support for this plan:
http://my.barackobama.com/fiveyearslater

We are at a defining moment in our history.
This must be the election when America comes together behind a common purpose on behalf of our security and our values.
That is what we do as Americans. It's how we founded a republic based on freedom, and faced down fascism. It's how we defended democracy through a Cold War, and shined a light of hope bright enough to be seen in the darkest corners of the world.
When America leads with principle and pragmatism, hope can triumph over fear. It is time, once again, for America to lead.

Thank you,
Barack Obama

Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:13:44 -0400
To: "Ana Santana"
From: "Barack Obama"
Subject: Five years later

Dear Ana,

Five years ago today, President George W. Bush launched a war that should never have been authorized based on faulty premises and bad intelligence.
This war has now lasted longer than World War I, World War II, or the Civil War.
Nearly four thousand Americans have given their lives. Thousands more have been wounded. Even under the best-case scenarios, this war will cost American taxpayers well over a trillion dollars.
And where are we for all of this sacrifice?
We are less safe and less able to shape events abroad. We are divided at home, and our alliances around the world have been strained. The threats of a new century have roiled the waters of peace and stability, and yet America remains anchored in Iraq.
I am running for President because it's time to turn the page on a failed ideology and a fundamentally flawed political strategy, so that we can make pragmatic judgments to keep our country safe.
That's what I did when I stood up and opposed this war from the start and said that we needed to finish the fight against al Qaeda. And that's what I'll do as President of the United States.
Please take a few minutes to read my strategy for ending the war in Iraq and making America safer.
Senator Clinton says that she and Senator McCain have passed a "Commander-in-Chief test" -- not because of the judgments they've made, but because of the years they've spent in Washington.
She made a similar argument when she said her vote for war was based on her experience at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
But here is the stark reality: there is a security gap in this country -- a gap between the rhetoric of those who claim to be tough on national security, and the reality of growing insecurity caused by their decisions.
It is time to have a debate with Senator McCain about the future of our national security. And the way to win that debate and keep America safe is to offer a clear contrast -- a clean break from the failed policies and politics of the past.
Nowhere is that break more badly needed than in Iraq.
The judgment that matters most on Iraq -- and on any decision to deploy military force -- is the judgment made first.
If you believe we are fighting the right war, then the problems we face are purely tactical in nature. That is what Senator McCain wants to discuss -- tactics. What he and the Administration have failed to present is an overarching strategy: how the war in Iraq enhances our long-term security, or will in the future.
That's why this Administration cannot answer the simple question posed by Senator John Warner in hearings last year: Are we safer because of this war? And that is why Senator McCain can argue -- as he did last year -- that we couldn't leave Iraq because violence was up, and then argue this year that we can't leave Iraq because violence is down.
When you have no overarching strategy, there is no clear definition of success.
Success comes to be defined as the ability to maintain a flawed policy indefinitely. Here is the truth: fighting a war without end will not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. And fighting in a war without end will not make the American people safer.
When I am Commander-in-Chief, I will set a new goal on Day One: I will end this war. Not because politics compels it. Not because our troops cannot bear the burden -- as heavy as it is. But because it is the right thing to do for our national security, and it will ultimately make us safer.

Here are the core elements of my strategy to address our critical national security challenges in the 21st century:

• End the war in Iraq, removing our troops at a pace of 1 to 2 combat brigades per month;
• Finally finish the fight against the Taliban, root out al Qaeda and invest in the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, while making aid to the Pakistani government conditional;
• Act aggressively to stop nuclear proliferation and to secure all loose nuclear materials around the world;
• Double our foreign assistance to cut extreme poverty in half;
• Invest in a clean energy future to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil and to lead the world against the threat of global climate change;
• Rebuild our military capability by increasing the number of soldiers, marines, and special forces troops, and insist on adequate training and time off between deployments;
• Renew American diplomacy by talking to our adversaries as well as our friends; increasing the size of the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps; and creating an America's Voice Corps.

Please take a minute to show your support for this plan:
http://my.barackobama.com/fiveyearslater

We are at a defining moment in our history.
This must be the election when America comes together behind a common purpose on behalf of our security and our values.
That is what we do as Americans. It's how we founded a republic based on freedom, and faced down fascism. It's how we defended democracy through a Cold War, and shined a light of hope bright enough to be seen in the darkest corners of the world.
When America leads with principle and pragmatism, hope can triumph over fear. It is time, once again, for America to lead.

Thank you,
Barack Obama

"A MORE PERFECT UNION": BARACK OBAMA ON RACE IN AMERICA

GUERRA AMERICANA

MASSACRE DE MY LAI 40 ANOS DEPOIS

MASSACRE DE MY LAI 40 ANOS DEPOIS

OBAMA VS. CLINTON: THE MOTHER OF ALL BATTLES! (Take 8)

"THE FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW!"

Well, first let's have a well deserved cup of tea for

TEN VICTORIES IN A ROW!

Then, let's just note, in passing, that McCain seems to have totally forgotten about Clinton and, in his newly assumed pose as the inevitable Republican nominee, started attacking Obama directly, e.g. talking about an “eloquent but empty call for change.” On her side, poor Hillary is still trying to find out what did she do wrong...

As for our unstoppable Obama, yesterday, in his victory speech in Houston, Texas, he explained how he responded to critics who asked him at the beginning of this race why did he decide to run now; why not wait a few years more, since he is still a relatively young man (in fact we had that same discussion here in the 1st take of this series). Why? Because, he said, of what Martin Luther King called "The Fierce Urgency of Now"!
Well, I have to say that if I had heard that phrase in a different context, I might have found it somewhat strange. Not in the context of this race though...

Now, let's read the latest from the man himself:

Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:11:00 -0500
To: "Ana Santana"
From: "Barack Obama"
Subject: Major news

Ana --
We learned something extraordinary since I wrote to you last night.
We've crunched all the numbers and discovered that we are within striking distance of something historic: one million people donating to this campaign.
Think about that ... nearly one million people taking ownership of this movement, five dollars or twenty-five dollars at a time.
We're already more than 900,000 strong, including over half-a-million donating so far this year. This unprecedented foundation of support has built a campaign that has shaken the status quo and proven that ordinary people can compete in a political process too often dominated by special interests.
Unlike Senator Clinton or Senator McCain, we haven't taken a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. Our campaign is responsible to no one but the people.
We started this improbable journey a little over a year ago in Springfield, Illinois.
And because you've joined together to make your voices heard, this journey isn't looking as improbable anymore.
Since our victory on February 5th, we've won ten straight contests.
But on March 4th, we face a huge challenge in Texas and Ohio, who will vote along with Rhode Island and Vermont. We are behind in the big states and need as many people involved as possible if we're going to win.
If we can reach our goal of one million donors by March 4th, we can send a powerful message that the Washington establishment and big-money interests cannot ignore.
As one million people with one voice, we can tell them that their days of dominating Washington are coming to an end -- the old politics are crumbling and a new voice is breaking through. Our voice.
I learned the power of ordinary people coming together as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago.
I worked side-by-side with people who had been laid off from steel plants that were moved overseas. These were people who needed new jobs to rebuild their lives, and their political leaders were ignoring them.
But even though the odds were stacked against them, they discovered that by coming together with one voice, they could no longer be ignored.
When we launched this campaign, we knew we were up against similar odds. We knew we'd be running against a massive political machine with deep ties to the Washington establishment.
We knew it wouldn't be easy.
But if we can do this, we're not just going to win an election. We're going to change our country.

Thank you so much,
Barack

"THE FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW!"

Well, first let's have a well deserved cup of tea for

TEN VICTORIES IN A ROW!

Then, let's just note, in passing, that McCain seems to have totally forgotten about Clinton and, in his newly assumed pose as the inevitable Republican nominee, started attacking Obama directly, e.g. talking about an “eloquent but empty call for change.” On her side, poor Hillary is still trying to find out what did she do wrong...

As for our unstoppable Obama, yesterday, in his victory speech in Houston, Texas, he explained how he responded to critics who asked him at the beginning of this race why did he decide to run now; why not wait a few years more, since he is still a relatively young man (in fact we had that same discussion here in the 1st take of this series). Why? Because, he said, of what Martin Luther King called "The Fierce Urgency of Now"!
Well, I have to say that if I had heard that phrase in a different context, I might have found it somewhat strange. Not in the context of this race though...

Now, let's read the latest from the man himself:

Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:11:00 -0500
To: "Ana Santana"
From: "Barack Obama"
Subject: Major news

Ana --
We learned something extraordinary since I wrote to you last night.
We've crunched all the numbers and discovered that we are within striking distance of something historic: one million people donating to this campaign.
Think about that ... nearly one million people taking ownership of this movement, five dollars or twenty-five dollars at a time.
We're already more than 900,000 strong, including over half-a-million donating so far this year. This unprecedented foundation of support has built a campaign that has shaken the status quo and proven that ordinary people can compete in a political process too often dominated by special interests.
Unlike Senator Clinton or Senator McCain, we haven't taken a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. Our campaign is responsible to no one but the people.
We started this improbable journey a little over a year ago in Springfield, Illinois.
And because you've joined together to make your voices heard, this journey isn't looking as improbable anymore.
Since our victory on February 5th, we've won ten straight contests.
But on March 4th, we face a huge challenge in Texas and Ohio, who will vote along with Rhode Island and Vermont. We are behind in the big states and need as many people involved as possible if we're going to win.
If we can reach our goal of one million donors by March 4th, we can send a powerful message that the Washington establishment and big-money interests cannot ignore.
As one million people with one voice, we can tell them that their days of dominating Washington are coming to an end -- the old politics are crumbling and a new voice is breaking through. Our voice.
I learned the power of ordinary people coming together as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago.
I worked side-by-side with people who had been laid off from steel plants that were moved overseas. These were people who needed new jobs to rebuild their lives, and their political leaders were ignoring them.
But even though the odds were stacked against them, they discovered that by coming together with one voice, they could no longer be ignored.
When we launched this campaign, we knew we were up against similar odds. We knew we'd be running against a massive political machine with deep ties to the Washington establishment.
We knew it wouldn't be easy.
But if we can do this, we're not just going to win an election. We're going to change our country.

Thank you so much,
Barack

OBAMA VS. CLINTON: THE MOTHER OF ALL BATTLES! (Take 7)

That's right. No more quotation or question marks. The 'Suppa Duppa Tuesday' results just made it official: THIS IS THE MOTHER OF ALL BATTLES!
Here's how the Obama campaign is preparing for the next rounds:

Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:07:09 -0500
To: "Ana Santana"
From: "David Plouffe, BarackObama.com"
Subject: A big night

Ana --
Thanks to you, Barack won all three of today's contests decisively.
Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC join a sweep of eight straight victories since Barack won the most states and the most delegates on Super Tuesday.
But the race for the Democratic nomination remains close. It's going to be a fight for every vote and every delegate in the remaining 18 contests.
Each of us needs to take responsibility for getting as many people involved in this campaign as possible.
More than 400,000 people have donated to this campaign in 2008, and we are on course to reach half-a-million donors before the crucial March 4th primaries and caucuses.
The upcoming contests in Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania will demand energy and resources on an unprecedented scale.
It's going to take all of us to keep these victories going. But if anyone is up to the task, it's this movement.
Thanks for your support,
David
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

***

Date:
Wed, 6 Feb 2008 20:51:38 -0500
To:
"Ana Santana"
From:
"David Plouffe, BarackObama.com"
Subject:
Startling news

Ana --

I was writing a note to you about the state of the race after Super Tuesday when we got some startling news.
The Clinton campaign just announced that Hillary and Bill Clinton injected $5 million of their personal fortune into her campaign a few days ago.
This is a dramatic move, and a clear acknowledgement that our campaign has the momentum. We saw undeniable evidence of that last night as the results came in.
Barack Obama won the most states and the most delegates on February 5th.
We have gotten to this point thanks to an unprecedented outpouring of support from ordinary Americans.

To date, more than 650,000 people like you have taken ownership of this campaign, giving whatever they can afford.
The Clinton infusion of $5 million -- and there are reports it could end up being as much as $20 million -- will give them huge resources for the next set of primaries and caucuses.

Thanks to you, we have raised more than $3 million since the polls closed on February 5th. But we have no choice -- we must match their $5 million right now.
We're going to do it the right way, with small donations from people like you.

Just two weeks ago we were behind by double-digits in many of the states that voted yesterday, but Barack won 13 states to 8 states for Hillary Clinton, with one state (New Mexico) still counting votes.
This is an enormous victory, and it's all thanks to you.

Here are some details about yesterday's historic victory. According to official results and exit polls:
· Barack won 2-to-1 in traditionally conservative states where Democrats are hungry for a nominee who can change the map and help Democrats up and down the ticket win in November
· Our winning coalition included Americans of every race, background, and gender -- including 64% of women in Georgia
· We scored wins in every region of the country -- New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the South, the Midwest, the Rocky Mountain states, and the West
Americans had a clear choice to make yesterday, and they chose Barack Obama.
Now let's match this $5 million and take this campaign into the next stage.
Thank you,

David
David Plouffe

Campaign Manager

Obama for America

[Read full text here]

That's right. No more quotation or question marks. The 'Suppa Duppa Tuesday' results just made it official: THIS IS THE MOTHER OF ALL BATTLES!
Here's how the Obama campaign is preparing for the next rounds:

Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:07:09 -0500
To: "Ana Santana"
From: "David Plouffe, BarackObama.com"
Subject: A big night

Ana --
Thanks to you, Barack won all three of today's contests decisively.
Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC join a sweep of eight straight victories since Barack won the most states and the most delegates on Super Tuesday.
But the race for the Democratic nomination remains close. It's going to be a fight for every vote and every delegate in the remaining 18 contests.
Each of us needs to take responsibility for getting as many people involved in this campaign as possible.
More than 400,000 people have donated to this campaign in 2008, and we are on course to reach half-a-million donors before the crucial March 4th primaries and caucuses.
The upcoming contests in Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania will demand energy and resources on an unprecedented scale.
It's going to take all of us to keep these victories going. But if anyone is up to the task, it's this movement.
Thanks for your support,
David
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

***

Date:
Wed, 6 Feb 2008 20:51:38 -0500
To:
"Ana Santana"
From:
"David Plouffe, BarackObama.com"
Subject:
Startling news

Ana --

I was writing a note to you about the state of the race after Super Tuesday when we got some startling news.
The Clinton campaign just announced that Hillary and Bill Clinton injected $5 million of their personal fortune into her campaign a few days ago.
This is a dramatic move, and a clear acknowledgement that our campaign has the momentum. We saw undeniable evidence of that last night as the results came in.
Barack Obama won the most states and the most delegates on February 5th.
We have gotten to this point thanks to an unprecedented outpouring of support from ordinary Americans.

To date, more than 650,000 people like you have taken ownership of this campaign, giving whatever they can afford.
The Clinton infusion of $5 million -- and there are reports it could end up being as much as $20 million -- will give them huge resources for the next set of primaries and caucuses.

Thanks to you, we have raised more than $3 million since the polls closed on February 5th. But we have no choice -- we must match their $5 million right now.
We're going to do it the right way, with small donations from people like you.

Just two weeks ago we were behind by double-digits in many of the states that voted yesterday, but Barack won 13 states to 8 states for Hillary Clinton, with one state (New Mexico) still counting votes.
This is an enormous victory, and it's all thanks to you.

Here are some details about yesterday's historic victory. According to official results and exit polls:
· Barack won 2-to-1 in traditionally conservative states where Democrats are hungry for a nominee who can change the map and help Democrats up and down the ticket win in November
· Our winning coalition included Americans of every race, background, and gender -- including 64% of women in Georgia
· We scored wins in every region of the country -- New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the South, the Midwest, the Rocky Mountain states, and the West
Americans had a clear choice to make yesterday, and they chose Barack Obama.
Now let's match this $5 million and take this campaign into the next stage.
Thank you,

David
David Plouffe

Campaign Manager

Obama for America

[Read full text here]

MY REPLY TO BARACK OBAMA*

Dear Senator Obama,

It was such an honour for me to receive your message yesterday!
Thank you so much for that kind gesture. Of course, I have an idea of how campaign machineries are supposed to work and that this sort of thing is not necessarily to be taken as a personal message. Nevertheless, it was meaningful to me.

Please be assured that I have been doing all I can to shore up support for your campaign and will continue to do so beyond today’s election, from which I strongly believe you will emerge as THE WINNER you naturally are!

Surely, my reach is very limited (not least because I am not American and live in London) but I hope that, through the series I’ve been posting on my blog and the phone calls and email messages I’ve been making to family, friends and acquaintances I have in the US, I can contribute somehow to your VICTORY!

I know that you certainly don’t have the time to read this, but I would like to take this opportunity to let you know how much I’ve been touched by your book “Dreams From My Father”. It was brought to me this Christmas as a gift by my younger sister who lives in Washington DC. I’ve been reading it by installments, as time permits and, as I read, posting small extracts from the chapters on Kenya in my blog (just hope you wont terribly mind this). I’ve been trying to highlight the passages that best help to understand the current situation in Kenya, although I often feel like posting everything because it’s so engaging! Of course, the need to not seriously infringe your copyrights helps me to resist that temptation.

Let me say that I had approached Kenya before through the writings of American scholars such as Robert Bates and Caroline Elkins (incidentally, both from your alma mater Harvard), but none of them gave me the personal insight on the soul of land and people you manage to express with such fine detail. I am African, and I am a woman, but I don’t remember ever reading before anything written by a male or female, of any race or cultural heritage, that reflects so well the realities of life in Africa (I lived most of my life in Angola, my country of origin, and visited 14 other African countries so far) and the particular challenges it poses to African women – no doubt your dear sister Auma played a special role in it, but only a human being as deeply sensitive as yourself could write about those experiences so touchingly. And not only that: the profound way in which you reflect about the human condition in America and anywhere else in the world!

A few weeks ago, an African-American blogger living in Germany referred to me as “a brilliant mind” in relation to an article I wrote for the “Atlantic Community” – a German-American think tank online. I was flattered, but didn’t take him too seriously, mainly because, although a highly reputed professional in his field (engineering), he is not really an ‘expert’ on the issues I wrote about (economic and trade-related issues). However, based on my gender, cultural and human experiences, I can say to you without hesitation: Mr. Obama you are a BRILLIANT MIND!

I’ll leave you now on your road to a victory that is certain anyway because, as you put it so well in your message, this is about more than just winning an election!

Please accept my BEST WISHES to your political and personal life, which I would like to extend to your beautiful and intelligent wife Michelle and your wonderful daughters Malia and Sasha.

A LUTA CONTINUA!
A VICTORIA E’ CERTA!!!

*(Please refer to previous post)

Dear Senator Obama,

It was such an honour for me to receive your message yesterday!
Thank you so much for that kind gesture. Of course, I have an idea of how campaign machineries are supposed to work and that this sort of thing is not necessarily to be taken as a personal message. Nevertheless, it was meaningful to me.

Please be assured that I have been doing all I can to shore up support for your campaign and will continue to do so beyond today’s election, from which I strongly believe you will emerge as THE WINNER you naturally are!

Surely, my reach is very limited (not least because I am not American and live in London) but I hope that, through the series I’ve been posting on my blog and the phone calls and email messages I’ve been making to family, friends and acquaintances I have in the US, I can contribute somehow to your VICTORY!

I know that you certainly don’t have the time to read this, but I would like to take this opportunity to let you know how much I’ve been touched by your book “Dreams From My Father”. It was brought to me this Christmas as a gift by my younger sister who lives in Washington DC. I’ve been reading it by installments, as time permits and, as I read, posting small extracts from the chapters on Kenya in my blog (just hope you wont terribly mind this). I’ve been trying to highlight the passages that best help to understand the current situation in Kenya, although I often feel like posting everything because it’s so engaging! Of course, the need to not seriously infringe your copyrights helps me to resist that temptation.

Let me say that I had approached Kenya before through the writings of American scholars such as Robert Bates and Caroline Elkins (incidentally, both from your alma mater Harvard), but none of them gave me the personal insight on the soul of land and people you manage to express with such fine detail. I am African, and I am a woman, but I don’t remember ever reading before anything written by a male or female, of any race or cultural heritage, that reflects so well the realities of life in Africa (I lived most of my life in Angola, my country of origin, and visited 14 other African countries so far) and the particular challenges it poses to African women – no doubt your dear sister Auma played a special role in it, but only a human being as deeply sensitive as yourself could write about those experiences so touchingly. And not only that: the profound way in which you reflect about the human condition in America and anywhere else in the world!

A few weeks ago, an African-American blogger living in Germany referred to me as “a brilliant mind” in relation to an article I wrote for the “Atlantic Community” – a German-American think tank online. I was flattered, but didn’t take him too seriously, mainly because, although a highly reputed professional in his field (engineering), he is not really an ‘expert’ on the issues I wrote about (economic and trade-related issues). However, based on my gender, cultural and human experiences, I can say to you without hesitation: Mr. Obama you are a BRILLIANT MIND!

I’ll leave you now on your road to a victory that is certain anyway because, as you put it so well in your message, this is about more than just winning an election!

Please accept my BEST WISHES to your political and personal life, which I would like to extend to your beautiful and intelligent wife Michelle and your wonderful daughters Malia and Sasha.

A LUTA CONTINUA!
A VICTORIA E’ CERTA!!!

*(Please refer to previous post)

OBAMA VS. CLINTON: THE MOTHER OF ALL BATTLES? (Take 6)

ON THE RUN TO ‘SUPPA DUPPA TUESDAY’

It has been a little while since my last take on this battle and, gosh, what an awful lot happened since! Here’s some of it:

WHEN THE NAME OF THE GAME BECAME BILLARY…

When I started this series at the outset of this primary’s campaign, I was particularly interested in observing how race and gender would play out among the Democrats’ electorate. A number of episodes since have illustrated just how important these two sociological categories are in the wider Democratic campaign against the Republicans, but none has proven my gut instinct so close to reality on the ground as the one when Bill Clinton entered his wife’s campaign playing the ‘race card’ right, left and center, and race politics threatened to ruin everything for everyone.

Apparently, the ‘Billary’ strategy was to play the race card in such a way as to force Obama into a ‘black corner’ thus prompting the white electorate to vote Hillary as a backlash to any Obama wins in black majority states. The Obama camp aptly rose to the challenge (as evidenced by Barack’s victory speech in South Carolina) and much has been made of it all and related events in the conventional media and the blogosphere. There is, however, an angle of the “double bill” made up by the Clinton couple that makes me ask: what on earth was the husband doing trying to overtake the wife’s campaign? Isn’t she supposed to demonstrate that a woman is capable of winning on her own merits? Anyway, apparently they have since tried to mend their ways and cut their losses, because…

ENTER TED KENNEDY…

On the strength of his win in South Carolina, Barack Obama managed to get Senator Ted Kennedy’s endorsement, adding to the ranks of a number of democratic heavyweights who have been declaring their support for him. However, as cheerful as this is for the Obama camp, it raises some concerns about the extent to which Kennedy’s support might actually work against him. And this is because an important mass of Obama’s supporters is composed of people, especially young people, who are genuinely vying for “a change they can believe in” and don’t particularly favour the continued dominance of political dynasties in the White House, directly or indirectly, be they Republican (Bush) or Democrat (Kennedy).
In any event, there are more pressing concerns for the Democrats at the moment.

… AND THE REPUBLICANS

It would be ill-advised for anyone to take anything for granted in this campaign and, obviously, both Hillary and Obama, as front-runners in the Democratic camp, have to measure their strengths against the Republican heavyweights. On that side, John McCain is currently on the lead, having received soon after his (not too comfortable) win in Florida, the important endorsements of Schwarzenegger and Giuliani (just a note on this: as it can be gathered from one of my comments on ‘take 2’ of this series, as many other observers, I had placed more weight on Giuliani’s candidacy then it turned out to show. Nevertheless, my gut feeling is telling me that he might again take the frontline alongside McCain, as the Republican candidate for the Vice-Presidency).

… AND THE ECONOMY!

However, I wouldn’t, at least at this stage, completely rule out Mitt Romney’s chances – after all, McCain himself said that his win in Florida was “nothing to brag about”. And this simply because the economy has come creeping into this campaign like ‘its nobody’s business’ and neither camp can afford to ignore it – fears of a depression, brought about mainly by dodgy deals in the sub-prime mortgage market and a too thinly spread federal budget over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, have been bringing Keynesian Economics back from the dead, amidst calls by some (apparently including Obama...) for the return of "Reaganomics". This has forced the Bush administration to come up with such drastic measures as ‘stimulus packages’ in the form of tax cuts and transfers and attempts to balance the budget mainly through a clampdown on funding ‘earmarks’, with the FED successively performing the most dramatic cuts in interest rates in more than two decades, while the dollar reaches all time lows against the euro.

In this context, Mitt Romney’s background in economic management may play a role in the outcome of the Republican campaign. After all, he won Michigan – a state which today represents the face of American economic decline – and it could be expected, not just because it's his home state but perhaps also because of it, that ‘if he made it there, he can make it anywhere’, unlike Rudy Giuliani who, through a fatally misguided campaign strategy (by placing all his eggs on the Florida basket), didn’t even manage to give himself the chance to try, let alone make, it at home in New York, or John McCain, whose weight as a war hero rests to be measured against his economic management credentials, which are virtually none.

There is, however, an interesting statement by McCain that seems to say quite a lot about what's to come: "I am not running for the American presidency to be someone but to do something!" Well, surely he is not running to be the "first female president", or the "first black president" of the US of A...

It is against this wider background that the battle Obama vs. Clinton has to be measured up in the most immediate future…

So, let’s wait and see what ‘Suppa Duppa Tuesday’ brings.

[P.S.: YOU CAN READ ABOUT "THE ECONOMICS OF BARACK OBAMA" HERE]

ON THE RUN TO ‘SUPPA DUPPA TUESDAY’

It has been a little while since my last take on this battle and, gosh, what an awful lot happened since! Here’s some of it:

WHEN THE NAME OF THE GAME BECAME BILLARY…

When I started this series at the outset of this primary’s campaign, I was particularly interested in observing how race and gender would play out among the Democrats’ electorate. A number of episodes since have illustrated just how important these two sociological categories are in the wider Democratic campaign against the Republicans, but none has proven my gut instinct so close to reality on the ground as the one when Bill Clinton entered his wife’s campaign playing the ‘race card’ right, left and center, and race politics threatened to ruin everything for everyone.

Apparently, the ‘Billary’ strategy was to play the race card in such a way as to force Obama into a ‘black corner’ thus prompting the white electorate to vote Hillary as a backlash to any Obama wins in black majority states. The Obama camp aptly rose to the challenge (as evidenced by Barack’s victory speech in South Carolina) and much has been made of it all and related events in the conventional media and the blogosphere. There is, however, an angle of the “double bill” made up by the Clinton couple that makes me ask: what on earth was the husband doing trying to overtake the wife’s campaign? Isn’t she supposed to demonstrate that a woman is capable of winning on her own merits? Anyway, apparently they have since tried to mend their ways and cut their losses, because…

ENTER TED KENNEDY…

On the strength of his win in South Carolina, Barack Obama managed to get Senator Ted Kennedy’s endorsement, adding to the ranks of a number of democratic heavyweights who have been declaring their support for him. However, as cheerful as this is for the Obama camp, it raises some concerns about the extent to which Kennedy’s support might actually work against him. And this is because an important mass of Obama’s supporters is composed of people, especially young people, who are genuinely vying for “a change they can believe in” and don’t particularly favour the continued dominance of political dynasties in the White House, directly or indirectly, be they Republican (Bush) or Democrat (Kennedy).
In any event, there are more pressing concerns for the Democrats at the moment.

… AND THE REPUBLICANS

It would be ill-advised for anyone to take anything for granted in this campaign and, obviously, both Hillary and Obama, as front-runners in the Democratic camp, have to measure their strengths against the Republican heavyweights. On that side, John McCain is currently on the lead, having received soon after his (not too comfortable) win in Florida, the important endorsements of Schwarzenegger and Giuliani (just a note on this: as it can be gathered from one of my comments on ‘take 2’ of this series, as many other observers, I had placed more weight on Giuliani’s candidacy then it turned out to show. Nevertheless, my gut feeling is telling me that he might again take the frontline alongside McCain, as the Republican candidate for the Vice-Presidency).

… AND THE ECONOMY!

However, I wouldn’t, at least at this stage, completely rule out Mitt Romney’s chances – after all, McCain himself said that his win in Florida was “nothing to brag about”. And this simply because the economy has come creeping into this campaign like ‘its nobody’s business’ and neither camp can afford to ignore it – fears of a depression, brought about mainly by dodgy deals in the sub-prime mortgage market and a too thinly spread federal budget over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, have been bringing Keynesian Economics back from the dead, amidst calls by some (apparently including Obama...) for the return of "Reaganomics". This has forced the Bush administration to come up with such drastic measures as ‘stimulus packages’ in the form of tax cuts and transfers and attempts to balance the budget mainly through a clampdown on funding ‘earmarks’, with the FED successively performing the most dramatic cuts in interest rates in more than two decades, while the dollar reaches all time lows against the euro.

In this context, Mitt Romney’s background in economic management may play a role in the outcome of the Republican campaign. After all, he won Michigan – a state which today represents the face of American economic decline – and it could be expected, not just because it's his home state but perhaps also because of it, that ‘if he made it there, he can make it anywhere’, unlike Rudy Giuliani who, through a fatally misguided campaign strategy (by placing all his eggs on the Florida basket), didn’t even manage to give himself the chance to try, let alone make, it at home in New York, or John McCain, whose weight as a war hero rests to be measured against his economic management credentials, which are virtually none.

There is, however, an interesting statement by McCain that seems to say quite a lot about what's to come: "I am not running for the American presidency to be someone but to do something!" Well, surely he is not running to be the "first female president", or the "first black president" of the US of A...

It is against this wider background that the battle Obama vs. Clinton has to be measured up in the most immediate future…

So, let’s wait and see what ‘Suppa Duppa Tuesday’ brings.

[P.S.: YOU CAN READ ABOUT "THE ECONOMICS OF BARACK OBAMA" HERE]