Good!
Dr. Lotan: I actually have enough money to hire a tech, so that we don't have to spend time preparing all these and thus can concentrate on the experiments and solving the staining problems...Me: Hmm yeah!
Do I actually worth more than a tech?
If I am, that is very good news indeed...!
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Yesterday evening I was with Jo, Peter, etc. at the Election Watch.
People are very excited. After Obama's victory speech, supporters started celebrating on the streets. They were cheering all the way, blocking the traffic at the junction of 33rd and St Paul. At 3am the police came, took away a couple of people, including one of our professors :P
I wasn't there, but at least a friend and a teacher were there. It was pretty awesome. McCain got owned.
Alright. As a foreigner from Asia and a pseudo-European, I am very excited too. We now have a reason to be optimistic.
Although Obama has said that he is going to pull out of Iraq, I honestly do not believe that he will end the wars started by Bush irresponsibly. There is too high a price to pay if he does so; both politically and in terms of actual security. That is, I would be utterly surprised if he totally gives up American military presence, even gradually, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Middle East and Central Asia.
What I am expecting is, he is going to get his people to work out a way to maintain minimal military presence in those areas until American military presence is not needed anymore. But the important thing is, he is not going to start anything new. Europe doesn't want anything to do with war; Europeans want peace, and they want America to be on their side of the cause to help get it. Bush dragged everyone into war, and criticised France and Germany for not cooperating; Obama will not do that. If he does, I will be surprised.
Obama represents a new way of doing things, and a new attitude. He represents a stronger sense of social justice, and he represents a more active pursuit towards it. He has inspired a lot of young Americans to feel and think that they can make their country better, and in his victory speech he has asked them to put that into action. The Republican way is to advocate - you are responsible for striving and making yourself better, and naturally people around you will become better. The Obama way is, as you make yourself better, think of how to actively make other people better too.
Obama is about rebuilding America. Like Prof. Pomata (Italian) said today, the reputation of America as a great nation as been tainted by the Bush administration, and now it is Obama's turn to reinstate it. The Obama administration will be a more responsible one, both towards the American public and other nations. His mission would be to claim back the high moral status America has in the world, and I am pretty sure that he can do that.
And look at how he speaks. During his victory speech, he said, 'The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.' If our PM Lee were to say exactly the same thing, he would go, 'The global financial situation is bad, investors' confidence is low, we will have a hard time ahead, and we ask all Singaporeans to bear with the government even when the policies are bitter and difficult to swallow'.
I wonder why Singaporean youths wouldn't care less about politics and their country.
He also said, 'I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way its been done in America for 232 years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand[;]' 'So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. ... In this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.'
It is basically the same thing as the previous paragraph; phrased differently, and appealing to a larger cause.
It is this larger cause that is inspiring a lot of people. If, because of the Obama administration, young Americans start to have a stronger sense of public responsibility, social justice and service, we can foresee America to have a rather dramatic attitude change in the coming years. This is when America will truly be great, and this is truly how we can have more reasons to be optimistic.
That is why I am excited. Not just me - people around me, all of Europe, Kenya in Africa - everyone is excited. We are excited because we know that there is a good chance that - Obama will bring a new attitude to America, and because of that the world will become a better place. Obama can be a great president. We will all see.
Labels: Policy and Politics
