Declare Independence / The New American

Björk says:
"Declare Indpendence!
Don't let them do that to you!
With a flag and a trumpet Go to the top of your highest mountain!
And raise your flag!
Higher! Higher!"

The United States of America is a country and an idea, hence:
The New American looks toward diversity as common ground. The New American works toward a sustainable way of life. The New American is peaceful and passionate, open to ideas and innovation yet firm in their beliefs. The New American is not proud of oneself, but proud to empower others. The New American is a global citizen. They need not hold a United States passport in their hands, but simply an idea in their mind, truth in their speech, and actions to complement their noble intentions.



Bjórk has well-guided passion. I do ask of you blog readers, how effective do you perceive her to be?

Obamanation

Last night I had quite the eclectic experience watching the Obama inauguration. To start, I watched it on the BBC - our country declared independence from the British 233 years ago and here I am watching the largest inauguration in history on their network. My Irish housemate Priscilla was pumping out Björk on her computer speakers, and I was relaxing in my apartment in Cebu, Philippines. I earlier went for a walk, and ended up playing volleyball (I declined the more widely played basketball) with my Filipino neighbors. Afterward I broke bread with my friend Taiwo, and among many things we discussed our roles in the world and social responsibility to our home communities (in Texas and Nigeria, respectively) just after I sent off a résumé to a Hong Kong publishing group. Back home, I happened to play a track I ripped from a compact disc I checked out the the Lawrence, Kansas public library - Joan Baez singing "A Mi Manera" - which is the same tune made famous by Frank Sinatra: "I had it my way." Most surprising of the night: Joan Baez has excellent Spanish pronunciation and BBC correspondents can't hide their feelings against George Walker Bush. Also, surprising is that I never hear Obama's middle name "Hussein" on American Television but it's spoken in its entirety on BBC. I just imagine a child being named Walker Hussein...it's almost as bad as being a kid named "Sue." Priscilla caught the last half of the inauguration speech but missed out on Aretha Franklin's heartfelt version of "My country, 'tis of thee" - a tune that was jacked from the Brits in the first place.
Today I began the new era of responsibility by waking up early and watching Ali G's "Bling bling." I have been globalized, or is it globalised?

*Above video was the Spanish election anthem. Enjoy Obama en Reggaeton!

Sarah Palin visits the Philippines

As senators Barack Obama and John McCain spent their weekend campaigning in the battleground states, an unprecedented decision was made by the Republican National Committee to rally votes from the largely democrat expatriated American community in Asia. In that last-minute effort to appeal to critical overseas absentee voters, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin gave a brief interview Saturday at Bigfoot Entertainment in Cebu, Philippines. Our London correspondent Richard Hearsey served as interviewer for the evening and gave his commentary on this pivotal time in the race to the White House.
The latest Gallup polls show John McCain trailing by an average of 9 percentage points, though his television appearances on Saturday Night Live and the QVC shopping network have increased McCain-Palin ticket's popularity by an average of 2 points in the last 3 days. Hearsey investigated the details of the McCain-Palin presidency's plan of action should they be elected today, election day. If you're still reading you must think this is actually fo' shizzle.






Thanks to Denise for dressing up as Palin and giving a spot-on interview with Richard!
*No Caribou or Moose were harmed in the making of this blog post

The woman who saves the world

No, not Superwoman, but her travel schedule would indicate she's the American Government's equivalent of James Bond. Brett Jones is the Director of the Humanitarian Assistance Office in the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Viet Nam. Brett decides where the United States puts its aid money in Southeast Asia.
The photograph pictured above is for a Hawaiian publication called the Punahou Bulletin. It goes out to 30,000 alumni of the Punahou School, a prestigious institution with alumni ranging from presidential candidate Barack Obama to AOL founder Steve Case, and my favorite: Buster Crabbe - the actor in the original Flash Gordon series.

Below, Brett in a Ha Noi market. I like to call this photo "Coronation"


It's difficult to nail down exactly what Brett does with so many different activities and meetings, but her work does have one cohesive look: Brett is on the phone.