Excerpt from The Star 5 Oct 2009:
80,000 youths going in for Change
NEW YORK: Inspired by US President Barack Obama’s Change theme, nearly 180,000 young people across South-East Asia have registered support for change in the run-up to the Youth Engagement Summit (YES) 2009.
The summit is the first of its kind in Asia and will bring together youth representatives from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Brunei.
Organisers briefed US State Department officials in Washington DC last week on details of the plans, which include inviting 10 of America’s most promising youth leaders to attend the event.
Expected to be the largest youth gathering in the region, the summit with the theme “South-East Asia Youth for CHANGE”, will connect young people via satellite link-up to giant screens across five South-East Asian leading universities with 6,000 summit participants in Kuala Lumpur.
“Youth of South-East Asia are more connected, ready for change and forward looking than before. These youth will lead their countries in the next five years. We have to engage them now,” he said.
Organising chairman Harmandar Singh said YES 2009 would begin immediately after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) conference in Singapore and he hoped to attract at least one more world-renowned agent of change as a keynote speaker.
“This movement was inspired by President Obama’s call for change during last year’s election campaign. His charismatic approach has influenced a dynamic shift in long-held perceptions, particularly for South-East Asia’s next generation of leaders.”
For more information, visit http://www.yes2009.asia.
So they’re basing their admittedly inspiring, positive and hopeful vision on President Obama’s CHANGE.
Well, here’s the CHANGE Obama’s been bringing in by the bucketful to his own country (click images for more):
$51 billion lost due to Stimulus – $340 billion spending power for $391 billion spent!
Update: Now it’s 10.2 percent.
26 percent jump in demand for hunger assistance over the past year, the largest average increase since 1991.
52.2% youth unemployment – YOUTH unemployment, at record high since World War II! Still want to base your CHANGE on Obama, youths of YES?
Personal bankruptcies up 32% in 2009 compared to 2008.
Poverty level up to 14.3% of Americans.
That’s what you get for electing a person who has only 143 days of Senatorship of experience in leading.
And as for his much-vaunted ‘community organizing’ experience, here’s what it actually accomplished:
Still so sure we want that kind of CHANGE around here?
PS. Actually, Obama’s brand of CHANGE is just MORE OF THE SAME OLD, SAME OLD:
For nearly two years, economic issues have held the top spot in terms of importance among voters.
But the latest national telephone survey shows that 83% now view government ethics and corruption as very important, placing it just ahead of the economy on a list of 10 key electoral issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports. Eighty-two percent (82%) of voters see the economy as very important.
The new findings come at a time when 43% of voters say the president is doing a poor job addressing government ethics and reducing corruption, up five points from early September and the highest level measured since he took office.
On a related note: Culture of Corruption remains on the New York Times best-seller list for the 9th week in a row (#9) and in the Amazon.com Top 100 for 68 days straight (currently #11). Thank you for continuing to spread the word.