Barack Obama

Not all Chinese Web users like Obama

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:57:56 +0100

US President Barack Obama was treated to a grandiose welcome in Beijing, where he met his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao on Tuesday. The pair agreed to strengthen ties between the two countries. But on the Web, feelings were not so warm.

Forty-six percent of Chinese Web users say that they "do not like" Obama. Looking at online forums however, the extent of this dislike appears to be much stronger. For Lin20000xin, "This meeting with the American is stupid and pointless".

Contributor Wugu Shenlong says that "There's not one good thing about those American fiends". ‘Map' suggests that "The Senate has passed a law that means Americans have to kneel in front of a statue of Barack Obama when they get up and go to bed". There are also racist comments, like the following one from Milkman 007: The nigger is a cross-breed trying to conquer the world and mankind".

Source: hecaitou.net

Oubama from china-files on Vimeo.

Gay soldiers – why Obama can't do it alone

Team Observers — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:18:17 +0100

Obama reaffirmed his promise to repeal the US Army's ban on homosexual soldiers this month. But while gay activists across the country wait patiently for their right to serve in the army as openly homosexual, our Observer, a gay soldier who served in the sixties and seventies, explains why Obama needs the backing of Congress to fulfil his promise.

The "Don't ask don't tell" (DADT) legislation was pushed through by the Bill Clinton administration in 1993 after fierce opposition to a complete overturn of the ban. Although it meant that gay men could serve in the army, it did not allow them to be open about it, and intending to or actually engaging in sexual contact with members of the same sex remained a dischargeable offence, because "It would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability."

Since then, close to 14,000 gay soldiers have been discharged from the US Army after admitting to being gay or being denounced as gay.

During a dinner held by the Human Rights Campaign on 10 October, President Obama reaffirmed his wish to scrap the law. The Senate Committee on Armed Service will hold a hearing on the DADT in November.

Beaten to death with splintered railroad ties – “business as usual” in Chicago

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:44:12 +0200

The following video shows a 16-year-old being brutally beaten to death in a fight between two Chicago gangs. The shocking footage is far from rare - Derrion Albert is the 47th schoolchild to be killed in the city this year.

Barack Obama's hometown of Chicago is one of the most violent in the United States, with an estimated 100,000 gang members in a city of three million. According to Chicago Public Schools officials, almost 300 school-aged children have been shot in the past 12 months. The footage of Derrion Albert's murder on September 24, which was filmed on a mobile phone and passed on to the local police, prompted Obama to dispatch Attorney General Eric Holder and education secretary Arne Duncan to Chicago to "search for solutions to youth crime".

The footage emerged just days before the Olympics committee ruled Chicago out as a potential host for the 2016 games, leading some to believe that the brutal images might have spoiled the city's chances.

Raw video proves that “angry black woman” had every reason to be

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:25:15 +0200

The debate over President Barack Obama's universal health-care bill turned nasty this week when town meetings became chaotic. One in particular sparked an online debate after footage aired by news networks showed an African American woman being escorted out by police apparently disrupting the event. Images filmed from another angle and posted online by a blogger, however, proved that the story was not what it seemed.

Obama's controversial health bill is facing both public outcry and impassioned enthusiasm from respective opponents and supporters. Supposed to allow the public to air their views, town hall meetings set up across the country over the past week seem to have only worsened the situation after various senators were faced with furious outbursts and religious threats from angry opponents. One man turned up with a rifle strapped to his leg and a poster which read "It's time to water the tree of liberty" — a Thomas Jefferson phrase which is often used by white supremacists. Hoards of people tried to get into the meetings, but in most cases there was not enough room for everybody, leaving angry crowds outside waving the popular Obama "joker" poster and threatening that they'd rather die than see the "Marxist Jihad" scheme come into effect.

Elsewhere, tearful backers told stories of victims of the current system in an attempt to convince their senators to push on with the bill. One of these supporters is the now highly debated "angry black woman" who is featured in the following video, filmed at a town meeting in Missouri held by Senator Claire McCaskill and aired by various news networks on Monday.

"Obama the African witch doctor"

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:08:10 +0200

This image was sent to fellow anti-health reform campaigners by Florida neurosurgeon Dr. David McKalip. So why, if their argument draws on such crass resources, are anti-reformers succeeding in their attempt to stop Obama from implementing a comprehensive health plan in the US?

US President Barack Obama's plans to set up a national health service in the country were dealt a blow on Thursday after both Republicans and Democrats chose to postpone voting on the bill until September. The decision follows a chorus of disapproval from many American doctors, patients and insurers who are against the idea and label it "socialist" and describe it as "health rationing".

The US is the only major industrialised nation which does not provide universal health care for all of its citizens, leaving US patients the biggest spenders in the world when it comes to medical treatment. Obama's plan is to offer a "Public Option" - a government-run insurance scheme which would offer competitive rates so that private insurers would have to compete, keeping a tab on costs. It would also mean that all US citizens would have to be medically insured. Currently, around 85% of people have private health care insurance, most of them jointly funded by employee and employer, and some paid personally. The remaining 15% have no access to health care, unless they are admitted on an emergency basis, when the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act enforces that hospitals receive emergency patients, regardless of their ability to pay. This section of society however, simply has to ignore non-emergency ailments. There are some state-funded programmes in place - for example, Medicare (for elderly patients) and Medicaid (for low-paid/ unemployed patients). But care given depends on the city/ state, and only covers extreme cases.

Obama endorsing Chinese apartments?

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:44:43 +0200

The faces of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Barack Obama have appeared in advertisements for upmarket apartments in the central Chinese city of Xi'an.

Posted on the Swotbbs forum.

According to the Danwei website, the astonishing campaign was picked up by Chinese daily The Oriental Guardian. The billboards, measuring ten metres by six metres, boast the merits of the swish apartments under construction behind them. Each uses the portrait of a celebrity along with a statement of endorsement. A picture of American billionaire investor Warren Buffett for example, is accompanied by the quote "This is the most important investment of my life".

A reporter from the Oriental Guardian contacted the Shaanxi province Bureau of Industry and Commerce in questioning whether it was legal to suggest endorsement from an unknowing statesman. Although the advertising specialist there was unsure, the query nonetheless brought the campaign to the attention of the local government. On July 14 the local authorities demanded that the campaign be removed.

As noted by Danwei, it's not the first time that Obama's image has been used illegally by Chinese advertisers. The US president also appeared on a poster for the "Blockberry" (a fake Blackberry).

Jewish Americans bash Obama in Jerusalem beer fest

Julien — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:44:52 +0200

The night before Obama's historic speech to the Muslim world, a shocking video from Jerusalem captures a group of drunken American Jews bashing President Obama with racial slurs and physical threats. Not surprisingly, the video, entitled "Feeling the Hate in Jerusalem on the Eve of Obama's Cairo Address", has caused quite a stir. In just a few days it has garnered over 360,000 hits and thousands of passionate comments on YouTube - it has even gotten the attention of rapper 50 Cent.

Many have slammed the video for what they perceive is a gross misrepresentation: the suggestion that a small group of inebriated youths significantly represent Israeli and or Jewish American views on President Obama. Others argue - following the Latin proverb that what the sober man has in his heart, the drunkard has on his lips - that these youths represent (albeit crudely) the opinions of a growing minority of Israelis and Jews around the world. One of the video producers, and a critic, share their perspective with us.

Obama tackles the French on the hijab

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:08:14 +0200

When Obama said that Western countries should avoid "dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear", it could have been perceived as a personal attack in France. The hijab, along with all religious symbols, was banned in French schools in 2004. Read more...

The French government's decision to ban pupils from wearing "ostentatious religious symbols" caused a ruckus with hijab-wearers in the country when it was first enforced. Although the law remains in place five years on, Obama's highly critical comments on the subject come as a slap in the face for the French model. Our Observers who wear, or have worn the hijab, give us their opinion.

The statements in question:

The United States government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab and to punish those who would deny it.

It is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practising religion as they see fit -- for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear. We can't disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretence of liberalism.

I reject the view of some in the West that a woman who chooses to cover her hair is somehow less equal, but I do believe that a woman who is denied an education is denied equality.

Israeli extremists: “Obama, No You Can’t!”

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:45:38 +0200

Far-right activists in Israel have launched an anti-Obama campaign after his speech to the Muslim world in Cairo on Thursday.

The campaigners, which are backed by the Jewish National Front, plan to hang these images in poster form on walls across the country. Referring to Obama's request for Israelis to put a stop to settlements in Palestinian Territories, they say that the US government has no right to dictate where Israelis can live within the "Land of Israel". Israeli pacifists Peace Now called the movement an "embarrassment" to the country.

Obama’s address to the Muslim world – give your opinion!

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:15:58 +0200

Image posted on Flickr by "Volubrjotr".

Obama's address in Cairo on Thursday was a hugely anticipated speech. Our Muslim Observers react: only half of them are convinced. Read more...

Read an overview of the speech here.

We asked a number of our Observers to comment on the speech. We're publishing the reactions as they come in; here are the first. We're inviting you to give your opinions too. Thank you in advance for giving precise points on the speech and avoiding aggressive or heinous comments.

UPDATE 05/06/09: Our Observers from Pakistan and Iran have added their comments to the post (below).