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Sunday, January 25, 2009

President Barack Obama


President Barak Obama


On January 20th, 2009, white people and black people, and all shades in between celebrated the very same thing in the inauguration of President-elect Obama: they celebrated the coming of age of America. By electing someone other than a white male, the way is now clear to choose the best talent for the job, whether that person be male or female.

The day was brilliant and went without a hitch. We all held our breath that it wouldn’t be interrupted by someone trying to do something idiotic. President Obama was elected as America’s first African-American commander-in-chief. That fact brought to The Washington Mall a record number of people, especially black people, to see for themselves the modern miracle of his inauguration.

The ceremony was perfect; the weather cooperated, and no-one interfered with the historic event. Hundreds of millions of people around the world stopped what they were doing and watched. The inauguration of President Mandela in South Africa was as monumental, but I believe that event did not command as many people to listen in absolute silence to President Mandela’s every word as they did to President Obama. Had a pin dropped it would have clanged as loudly as a bell.

Some people later said that they were disappointed in the speech as it did not soar for them in its rhetoric. Perhaps they were expecting show business rather than hard reality. The fact is that the speech had within it everything that should have been there, even some things that had to be hard for President Bush to bear.

In his vow he pledged to uphold the Constitution of the United States. That Constitution states that “all men are created equal”, but then also says that a black man shall be considered three fifth’s of a white man. The Constitution is wrong, has always been wrong on that point, and no longer can be considered an authority on the subject. It raises the question “what else is wrong with the American Constitution?

As wonderful as the ceremony was, all of that happened yesterday. Today, he is now simply Mr. President, and it’s time to roll up the sleeves and get on with a very daunting task. He starts with a positive rating of about 80%, which means that he has both Democratic and Republican support. That is unprecedented.

However, within America there is a school of thought that what is happening is a travesty. They believe that only a white male has the right to lead the country. Those people are both stupid and dangerous. They are also unaware, to use President Obama’s own words, “that the ground has shifted under their feet”. America has moved on, as it must because the world has changed and the task at hand is to recreate America and the world. Nothing works any more as it’s supposed to, and no-one knows anything for sure. So those people who find themselves having a problem getting their head around a black man in the president’s office need to realise it is they who have a very big problem.




We have all seen what America is capable of doing to their presidents, and it is for that reason most people couldn’t be drafted into the Oval Office. However, the Obamas are very special people. They have to be extraordinary just to have made it to where they are. I have no doubt that the Obama administration will be dogged with hard luck and some errors, but these will come about mainly due to circumstances. What we do know is that President Obama can be counted on to make very good decisions. His judgement is clear and concise and will be the thing that will be the difference between disaster or success.
Everyone agrees that his plate is overfull with a very long list of misery. His task is impossible, but the way to take on such an overwhelming challenge is by putting one foot ahead of the other and by keeping that positive mindset that says “Yes we can!”

I am not a fan of former President Bush, although I do commend him for being so generous in the transition by going over and beyond the call of duty. The other thing that he did was to set the scene so that even small gains on President Obama’s part will stand out in exaggerated fashion. Unfortunately, some things happened on his watch that are simply not his fault, but they will taint even further his track record of not much of anything of value to be judged by history.

Now it’s up to America’s security forces to protect the president as he goes about his daily business. He and his family must be kept safe as he tries to re-build America. He is America’s Great Black Hope, and many people say he is their only hope.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Obama Time!





As I write this the date is Sunday, 18th January 2009. I am reminded that this is the month in which America honours the man who had a dream that one day America would no longer judge a person by the content of their skin colour, but rather by the content of their character. I am not a person who believes in coincidences. I believe that there is more order and pre-determination in our world than may seem. When significant things come together to form what most people consider a coincidence, I call those things synchronicity.

So it will be that we honour the Late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr, the great activist for civil rights, on January 19th, followed by the inauguration as the 44th President of The United States of America of Barack Hussein Obama, “the skinny kid with the funny sounding name” as he likes to put it. On that day the Dream that millions of people around the world took as their own will come true.

Please do not bother me with telephone calls. Let no one try to sell me anything, or ask me anything, or break my concentration on Tuesday the 20th as I watch transfixed in front of my television set. I don’t suppose I need worry as I will be among the billions of people around the world doing the same thing. Just remember, Valencia, Spain is six hours ahead of Washington D.C.

For me there will be the normal hope that the new person will bring significant change for the better to the table. I am neither Democrat nor Republican, but the fact is that as goes America, so goes Europe. So, I naturally wish President Obama all the very best.


Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Planning





While driving the AP-7 together with my wife, the thought occurred to me that in the event that we became involved in a fatal crash we had completely failed to give our son even one clue as to what to do after the police had delivered the news. So, I made a New Year’s resolution to write down for him the steps that he could take, and where to find things. Now that I have completed that list I would like to encourage each and everyone to do something similar.

As an exercise, whenever you see news footage of someone lying under the golden shroud in a scene on the highway, pause a moment to wonder what effect that will have on the family. We may not be able to control what happens to us, however there are some things that we can do to mitigate the effects of tragedy

To get you started the sort of things that your survivors will need to know go something. like this:

Who do I need to contact with this information? Ideally, there should be only one person per country that you can rely on to inform all relatives.
Who do I contact with this information in this country? Other than the obvious concerning disposal of remains, what companies and individuals must you contact?
How to go about cancelling accounts and realizing assets and settling amounts due to various creditors, including the government agencies.
Where are files and information to be found? This is not a time for a treasure hunt. There is quite enough stress already in your next of kin’s life. This part of the process should be made as simple as possible.
What about life insurance policies? Help with information as to where you have such assets would be most appreciated at this time. Otherwise, a trawl of every life insurance company in the world may be the only way to avoid leaving money on the table.
Where is your Will kept? It is so important to have a Spanish Will to cover your Spanish assets. Property held in other countries can be covered under Wills pertinent to those countries, but to die without a properly executed Will is to die In testate. That is a complicating factor that is not a very good thing.

As I got to thinking about the matter my mind got to wandering and I thought about those people who hide assets for the sake of tax evasion. Money in numbered accounts and tax havens may all be very well as long as the individual is able to access it during his lifetime, but when he dies, as he surely will do, after a reasonable period of time it must become the property of the bank. Whatever was held from the government becomes lost to the family plus more on top. In the end that becomes a fruitless exercise. Best just to pay the tax when due.

I do applaud the firms that sell burial plans because it does get us thinking about the end game. I’m taking the idea of planning to the ultimate degree until your estate is completely settled. Some people have even planned their own funereal program, including the songs to be sung. That’s fine with me, although I can choose the songs for you, but other things are strictly your provinces.

Finally, when going through with this we have to be realistic. We must consider that the chances that our information will be needed will be something near 100%. Therefore we do need to be thorough, and above all we need to be current. In undertaking such a task we can always be comforted in the belief that while the information will be used one day, that day may be a long way into the future.

Have a long, happy, healthy and prosperous life!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Goodbye 2008 ! (and Good Riddance!)






In all my years there has not been another year like 2008. I began that year with the wish to all that 2008 be Great. Of course, I meant that in every positive way, but instead it turned out to be a great year for everything negative.

Now let’s be clear on one thing. This is not a personal rant. My family and I ended the year in plus territory. We did have our problems along the way, but on balance I can say that for us it was not a bad year overall. However, too many people around us had it tough. Far too many people lost their jobs, their homes, their money, their pensions, their hope, and their lives. I’m talking about complete and utter strangers to me whose pain I feel. The news got so difficult to watch that I simply had to take a holiday from watching it.

There has been one thing after another that made my mouth drop ever lower and my eyes pop even wider. I said that it was as though these are the final days of civilisation. But, here we are in the early days of 2009. Normally we celebrate in hope that things will be better than the last year, but really, do we have any reason to hope and expect that this New Year will be any better. I think that it will probably get worse before it gets better. It’s a question of the bottom. When will it be reached? What major earth-shaking development is just waiting around the corner to shake the world to its core? Everything is suspect and no-one knows anything.

Fundamentally, we have all been reduced to a position whereby our long-term financial plan is a ticket on the lottery. If you win the lottery your problems will then commence in earnest. I have been reading about Bernard Madoff, whom I like to think of as Made-off with the money, and others who stand accused of defrauding people out of very large individual sums of money. The claims to which they were seduced are so outrageous I am shaking my head in wonder as to how they could have been so stupid. We are talking about very intelligent people who amassed large wealth only to give it to shamans. I’m fixated on this as perhaps a sign of the times, a form of desperation.

When looked at as a worldwide event I seriously do wonder whether the world can lose its mind. It appears that way.

Although 2009 will have to bear some of the problems that it has inherited from 2008, it will also be a year of opportunity. The new Obama Administration will be seen in a very positive light for the advancements that it makes, and there is plenty of scope for that. In the areas where things continue to slide it will be understood for a short while that it’s not their fault, but then, people will start to grow impatient. Just fix it! That will be the new order of the day. In many ways I see President Obama in the same way that we saw Will Smith in “Independence Day.” That was not a good position to be in.

So, I end this admittedly dismal blog on as optimistic a note as I can. Take care of your health. If you can maintain good health throughout the coming year you will be doing about as good as you can. You might like to stop smoking and to be cautious about what you take into your bodily system.

I would also like to borrow from the late President John F. Kennedy when he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country!”
Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael