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O pinion
October 21. 2009
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Our Transformational President
Nobel Prize is
call to action
by
M arc M oriai .
There has been
such a whirlwind
of analysis, criti­
cism and even
som e d erisio n
among certain segments of the
chattering class about Presi­
dent Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize
that I decided to go to the
source for some answers.
In choosing Obama, the five-
m em ber N orw egian N obel
Committee reaffirmed the impor­
tance of America in the world
and recognized the transforma­
tive spirit of both our new presi­
dent and these times.
Here’s how they put it: “Only
very rarely has a person to the
same extent as Obama captured
the world’s attention and given
its people hope for a better fu­
ture. His diplomacy is founded
in the concept that th o s/w h o
are to lead the world must do so
on the basis of values and atti­
tudes that are shared by the ma­
jority of the world’s population."
The Committee’s decision was
influenced in large part by the
dramatic change of course in
American foreign policy since
Obama took office. This includes
the President’s commitment to
end the war in Iraq, his concrete
steps towards nuclear disarma­
ment, his outreach to the Mus­
lim world, his work for Middle
East peace, his repudiation of the
use of torture and his determina­
tion to act decisively on issues
like the global economic crisis
and climate change.
E very eye on the plan et
looks to America for leadership
in these areas. President Obama
not only understands that fact,
he is personally leading the
charge for change. From Berlin
to Cairo to Ghana, he has con­
sistently emphasized that there
For his extraordinary efforts
to strengthen international
diplomacy and cooperation
between peoples.
~ The Norwegian Nobel Committee on presenting
President Barack Obama with the Nobel Peace Prize
is much more that unites the “Now is the time for all of us to
people of the world today than take our share of responsibility
for a global response to global
divides us.
The Nobel Committee spe­ challenges.”
While it was a tremendous
cifically cited the words from his
recent speech before the United surprise for President Obama to
N ations G eneral A ssem bly: win the Nobel Peace Prize, it is
not unprecedented. He joins means to give momentum to a
Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow set of causes.
“I will accept this award as a
Wilson and Jimmy Carter as the
fourth American president to call to action.. .for all nations to
win the award. And he stands confront the com m on c h a l­
alongside Ralph Bunche and lenges of the 21 st century,” he
Martin Luther King Jr. as the said.
We share that hope and we
third African American Peace
applaud and congratulate Presi­
Prize winner.
The President said he was dent Obama on winning the
“d ee p ly h u m b le d ” by the Nobel Peace Prize. It is a win
honor. And seeming to sense for the nation and reaffirmation
the storm of questions to come, to refocus America's foreign
he acknowledged that through­ policy on diplomacy and dia­
out history, the Nobel Peace logue.
Marc Moriai is president and
Prize has not just been used to
honor specific acco m p lish ­ ch ief executive officer o f the
ments, it’s also been used as a National Urban League.
Focus on America’s Workers
People need
jobs now
by J udge G reg
M athis
Economists are telling
us that we are turning the
comer on this recession.
They say stocks - par­
ticularly bank stocks -
are rebounding. Too bad the
15.1 million unemployed Ameri­
cans aren’t feeling any relief.
The unemployment rate for
September was well over9-per-
cent but is actually much higher.
Over 570,(XX) people dropped
out of the work force last month,
probably because they gave up
hope thinking they'd find a job.
If they were still looking, they
would have been counted as
among the unemployed.
The jobless numbers are the
highest in decades. Men, tradi­
tionally responsible for caring
for their families are hit the hard­
est. Black men, who often have
tro u b le finding sustain ab le
work, even in good economic
times, are struggling the most.
America needs to focus on
creating jobs for its workers.
The much-debated healthcare
reform could create new jobs.
With government funding, hos­
pitals and clinics would need
to hire additional medical sup­
port staff, creating a growing
workforce.
Pending energy legislation
will also create new jobs. As
companies, with the support of
federal dollars, work to ‘green’
their operations and environ-
m ents, A m erican w orkers
would have a new career op­
portunities available to them.
But more must be done. The
g o v e rn m e n t should
m andate that com pa­
nies who receive any
federal funding should
not be allo w ed to
outsource jobs to other
countries. Outsourcing has cost
A m erica hundreds o f th o u ­
sands of jobs over the last sev­
eral years. Additionally, legis­
lators should create a job pro­
gram specifically geared to hir­
ing and putting Americans into
jobs.
These jo b s should not be
dependent on federal funding.
Rather, the program should in­
vestigate new job creation strat­
egies and work to implement
them.
Lastly, the funds distributed
via the stimulus package, in­
tended to repair the nation’s
infrastructure, creating new
jobs in the process, should be
monitored more closely. Re­
ports indicate funds are not
being used as intended. Cities
not using the funds as planned
should be sanctioned.
The economy may indeed be
improving. But it will be some
time before the average Ameri­
can sees that change. People
need jobs now. And American
must work to create them.
Judge Greg M athis is vice
president o f Rainbow PUSH
and a board m em ber o f the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
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We Didn’t Even Get the Bronze
Olympics should have gone to Chicago
by D onald
K aui .
Let's face it. Chi­
cago is just not the
International Olym­
pic C om m ittee's
kind of town. In a
show of distain not seen since
we threatened Libya with our
Navy and Moammar Kadafi
came out in a boat and made
faces at it, the IOC rejected
Chicago's bid to host the 2016
summer Olympics. And that
wasn't the worst part.
There were four finalists
competing for the bid-Chi-
cago, Madrid, Tokyo, and Rio
de Janeiro. Chicago came in
fourth.
Fourth! We didn't even get
the bronze. And that still
wasn't the worst part.
Barack Obama, president of
the United States, leader of
the Free World and Chicago
hom eboy,
w ent
to
THE
SPINACOLUMN
An ongoing senes o( questions and anWfcrrs about America's natural healing profession
Dr. Billy R. Flowers
Part 7. CHILDREN & CHIROPRACTIC:
Start off early in life for a lifetime of health
: When will my children
be old enough to benefit
from seeing Chiropractor?
: Children of Chiroprac­
tors often receive their
first spinal adjustments the day
they are bom. Using special
techniques for infants. Chiro­
practors are able to correct
spinal misalignments caused
by the traumatic and turning of
childbirth. W hat's more, we’re
frequently able to alleviate in­
fant problems like colic that
often keeps both babies and
parents up all night.
: / have a friend who takes
her children to a Chiro­
4
practor even when they aren 't
sick. Why would she do this?
: Actually, there are more
rea sons for children to see
a Chiropractor regularly than
there are for adults. First of all,
because of their activities in
school and out, children natu­
rally take more spills than an
average adult. This is one of the
most common reasons people
bring their children to a Chiro­
practor. But the best reason of
all is so that with regular C hi­
ropractic care, children can
d e v e lo p a nearly perfect
spine. Not only to help them
do better in school, but to
gain in c re a s e d stre n g th ,
health and vitality through­
out their adult lives. To find
out all the ways Chiropractic
can help your children expe­
rience a lifetim e o f good
health, please call us at the
number below.
Flowers' Chiropractic Office
C openhagen to plead his
hometown's case personally.
And the committee rejected
it. That was the worst part.
How can he hope to con­
vince Iran to give up its
dream of an atom bomb when
he can't even convince more-
or-less friendly countries to
triotism or any other substan­
tive matter. America's right wing
is buried up to its neck in ha­
tred for Barack Obama. It will
accept any result-lack of health
care, high unem ploym ent, a
failed financial system , no
Olympics-if it causes him em ­
barrassm ent or pain. (Som e­
I have been to Rio and I
have been to Chicago.
Chicago is better.
give C h icag o the O lym pic
Games?
The R ighteous Right was
tickled giddy by the result. Pre­
cious Leader Rush Limbaugh
brayed his glee like an evange­
list selling salvation. Cheers
erupted at a staff meeting of The
Weekly Standard, a li,tie-read,
m uch quoted journal o f the
Ideologically Impaired.
But my favorite incident oc­
c u rre d in V irginia, w here
“Americans for Prosperity” was
sponsoring a conference. At­
tendees broke into spontane­
ous applause at the news that
the United States had suffered
a humiliating rejection. Appar­
ently getting foreigners here to
drop money into our laps isn't
the kind of prosperity they fa­
vor.
O b v io u sly then, the re ­
sponse of the Right had noth­
ing to do with prosperity or pa-
times I think it would welcome
an atomic attack on Los Ange­
les if it could lay the blame on
Obama, and it probably could.
Conservatives don't much like
California anyway. Too much
freedom of a kind they don't
endorse.)
The Committee eventually
chose Rio as the site of the 2016
Games. 1 think it made a mis­
take. I have been to Rio and I
have been to Chicago. Chicago
is better. Oh, Rio is beautiful;
I'll give it that. It's got that gor­
geous G u an ab ara Bay and
those sp e c ta c u la r ocean
beaches festooned with very
nice-looking people wearing
smiles and precious little else.
But look closer and you'll find
it's dirty and noisy and crime-
ridden. The New Yorker maga­
zine just ran a long piece on
Rio's gangs, which virtually
control large portions of the
Il?r Jlorthmb (Observer Established
1970
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4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
EDiTon-in-CHirr, P u b l is h ir . Charles H. Washington
E d it o r M ic h a e l L e ig h to n
D is t r ib u t io n M a n a g r r : M a rk W a sh in g to n
C r t a t iv i : D ir r c t o r : P a u l N e u fe ld t
city.
Rio ranks at the very top of
the world in “violent intentional
deaths." Last year, according to
police, there were nearly 5,(XX)
murders in the city, 22 of them
police. But the police got theirs
back. They killed 1,188 suspects
for “resisting arrest,” more than
any other police force any­
where.
A nd the slum s, c alled
favelas, are among the world's
worst.
Things weren't quite that bad
when I was there years ago, but
they were bad. It was during
Carnival and I went with some
South American friends to a tal­
ent show at one of the favelas.
It was a little city of shacks,
corrugated tin and cardboard
lean-tos, stretched up a hill.
There was no sanitation, very
little fresh water. It was a kind
of hell, and it wasn't the worst
favela around.
Chicago by contrast, is the
quintessential American place.
It bursts with vitality and con­
fidence. It's easily our most in­
teresting big city architecturally
and is second only to New York
in cultural advantages. And yes
it's got a beach and pretty girls
and its slums look like Switzer­
land compared to those of Rio.
It's got its graft and corruption
and its police force can some­
times be a bit stem (see the 1968
Democratic Convention) but
basically, it's my kind of town-
American and proud of it.
Donald Kaul is a national
correspondent.
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