News has just come in that Barack Obama may pick former Washington Governor, Gary Locke as his new commerce secretary! Locke was the first Chinese American to be elected as governor in United States history. He beat incumbant Tim Hill in 1996 and was reelected in 2000. Locke was third in line to be selected as Obama's new secretary of commerce. Both Bill Richardson and Judd Gregg, Obama's first and second choices, withdrew their nominations for various reasons.
Clinton toured an energy efficient plant last Saturday in Beijing. She encouraged Chinese officials to be aware of the environmental hazards and concerns that affect a developing nation and to not "make the same mistakes we [the US] did." In an effort to advance progress in green development, Clinton curbed issues such as Chinese Human Rights. No specific details on how the two nations would work together to create greener nations were laid out--only the acknowledgment that environmental causes would become increasingly more important as development of the two nations continued. Furthermore, some research collaboration by the two nations has started.
Hilary Clinton assured Chinese officials that China's holdings of US Treasuries were well worth the investment. China is now the largest foreign buyer of US Treasury securities. Buying US Treasuries will help the US economy to receive the boost that it needs, help the Chinese economy as a result, and together, the two nations could act together to renew the world's economy, said Clinton. The Chinese government has stated that it will in fact continue to invest in US Treasuries. A Chinese economist at Peking University argues, "Objectively speaking, helping the US economy is good for both China and the US." It is important to note, however, that not everyone in China feels the same way about helping a flagging US economy. Some believe China should be investing more at home in projects to help its own economy.
Throughout the course of the meeting between the two countries, Clinton stressed the importance of cooperation between the two to lead the world and to solve problems including security issues with North Korea and Iran. Despite the fact that she gained attention for her criticism of China's human rights approach in 1995 as First Lady at a United Nations women's conference in Beijing, Clinton marked such an issue as only secondary to a stronger and deeper relationship between the United States and China.
The New Year celebration falls on January 26, 2009 this year. It is the year of the Ox, which is representative of "prosperity through fortitude and hard work," according to Wikipedia. Instead of doing the typical "History on Chinese New Year's" I'm going to touch upon some interesting aspects of the New Year such as what people eat and why, the traditions and symbols, and what Chinese people are doing all over the globe to celebrate!
As I sat in front of the television on election night listening to Barack Obama’s speech about “hope” and a better future for Americans, I couldn't help but think about the social change that was about to take place in our country.
The future of race relations within the United States will undoubtedly change with Obama’s presidency – especially those with African Americans in the US. A man of African descent now holds, arguably, the most powerful leadership position in the entire world.
Many African Americans say that Obama’s win has been a “dream come true.” After the United States’ long history with slavery and discrimination against African Americans, these individuals were undoubtedly speaking of a success not only for themselves, but for their ancestors as well. So, what is the future of African Americans in the United States from here on in and how will general perceptions of this once severely oppressed group of individuals change?
Could there be a surge in black leaders in the media? How will society’s general impression of African Americans and African American leaders change? How will the world view the United States knowing that its people have broken out of a centuries old tradition and not elected a white Catholic male to be their president?
And finally, how will race relations in general change as a result of this presidency? As soon as Barack Obama announced his bid for the presidency, talk of his race surfaced immediately. With the concept of race having such a pervasive presence in our society now, could it perhaps, change the way history is taught in the classroom? What kind of amendments will be made to give more attention to leaders of all different backgrounds who have had an immense impact on this nation?
What are your thoughts? POST!!
Hey CSA! It's that time of the year again and
