President Barack Obama vs. Impersonator Obama of China

China's Xiao Jiguo impersonates President Barack Obama

Photo courtesy: www.bbc.com/

Chinese actor Xiao Jiguo, 30, who looks alike U.S. President Barack Obama, impersonates him in his acting stunts. He has been quite a stir in China for quite some time. 

When President Barack Obama leaves office in January, 2017, what will happen to this actor? 

More acting as a regular actor!

Learn more about him from the following:

• What will happen to China's Obama now? (Nov. 11, 2016)
• Meet the Chinese Obama impersonator: Can you spot the difference? (Nov. 5, 2016)
• It's the Barack of Beijing! Meet the Chinese actor who looks just like President Obama (Aug. 20, 2016)
• [Video] Meet China's Barack Obama Impersonator Xiao Jiguo (Sept. 23, 2016)
• Images of Xiao Jiguo of China impersonating U.S. President Barack Obama

 

Barack Obama to Receive 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

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U.S. President Barack Obama
Graphics (Toronto: October, 2009) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

The Norwegian Nobel Committee recently named U.S. President Barack Obama the recipient of 2009 Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." The announcement said that the Committee "has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons."

Many people were surprised at the selection of President Obama for this year's peace prize so early in his presidentship. President Obama himself was surprised. He said: "I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize. I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century."

Some have criticized the Nobel Committee's selection of President Obama as the winner of the Peace Prize. U.S. Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele said that the President won this prize because of his "star power." There are many others, in USA and abroad, who supported the prize award decision.

One thing is true that President Obama's policies towards other countries is of more cooperation and participation rather than aggression and one-sided imposition of the USA's will on them. Moreover, President Obama is working hard for nuclear non-proliferation in this world. His shift in gear and direction is what is being appreciated worldwide. This prize also imposes a responsibility on the President to work harder for peace.

Barack Obama Sworn In As The 44th US President

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President Barack Obama takes office amidst political,

economic, social and moral challenges

Graphic Design © Joachim Romeo D'Costa
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Barack Hussein Obama, after taking an oath of office today in Washington, D.C., became the 44th President of the United States. He is the first African-American to be the President in the 233-year existence of this country. This event marks a new chapter in the US history.

Martin Luther King's Dream Greatly Realized

With Obama's installation as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the world's most powerful country, the dream of the black civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King expressed before a large gathering of civil rights leaders and supporters in front of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, came to a great realization. In his speech, titled "I Have a Dream", he had mentioned, "...I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal'....I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Obama's Mantra of "Change" and "Yes, I Can" Reverberated in His Speech

Addressing several hundred thousand people gathered in the National Mall and nearby streets and lanes on this cold winter day, President Barack Obama called for change, hope and renewal of American spirit. He said: "On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the reciminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics."

He expressed his determination to face the challenges: "The challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America, they will be met." He also said: "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America."

His Call for Responsibility

He called upon the Americans to take up responsibility to bring about a change. He said: " What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility, a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world....This is the price and promise of citizenship."

He extended America's friendship to all nations of the world, but cautioned the persistent rogue nations and terrorists of his determination for defeating them.

Washington, D.C., is having several inauguration celebrations. The new President and his family from today will be living in the White House that was once constructed with hard labour of black slaves.

The New President's Name

Some people are averse to the non-western name of the new President. Some still think that he is a Muslim or occult Muslim. Barack Hussein Obama is common in other languages. 'Barack' comes from Arabic 'barak', meaning 'blessing'; 'Hussein' is also from Arabic 'hasan', meaning 'good' or 'handsome'; and 'Obama', meaning 'curved' or 'slightly bent', comes from Dholuo (also called Luo) language of the Luo tribesmen -- more than three million -- in Kenya and Tanzania. Arabic names are not necessarily Muslim names. Long before the advent of Islam in Saudi Arabia in the 7th century AD, most of these names were being used by Arabic-speaking Christians and other religionists, and, even now they do so, because names are mainly language-based, not religion-based.

Barack Obama: A Biographical Timeline -- 2

The post-election media revelry at the victory of Barack Obama

Layout: Joachim Romeo D'Costa

1982: Barack Obama receives the news of the vehicle-accident death of his 46-year old estranged father in Kenya.

1983: After receiving his B.A. degree in Political Science with specialization in International Relations from the Columbia University, he works at the Business International Corporation and later at the New York Public Interest Research Group.

1985: He takes up a job with the Developing Communities Project, a church-based project in Chicago as a community organizer. In three years, he carried out projects on school reform, hazardous waste cleanup, and helped set up a job training centre, college preparatory tutoring programme, and tenants' rights organization.

1988: Twenty-six -year old Barack Obama goes on a three-week trip to Europe and one-week visit to his late father's relatives in Kenya. This trip helps him understand the situation of his father and the challenges that he faced in Kenya.

He starts his graduate study at the Harvard Law School in Boston.

1989: He meets Michelle Robinson, who later became his wife, in Chicago while doing an internship at a law firm. At the university, he becomes the editor of the prestigious Harvard Law Review.

1990: Obama is elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review.

1991: Obama graduates from Harvard University with a Juris Doctor magna cum laude.

1992: In Chicago, he gets a job with the law firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Gallard as a junior lawyer.

Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson marry on October 10 of this year.

He also starts teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. In addition, he becomes the director of Illinois Project Vote, promoting registration of minority voters, mainly in the African-American community.

1995: Obama's memoir, Dreams From My Father, is published and it receives good reviews.

On November 7 of this year, Obama's mother Ann Dunham dies of ovarian cancer.

1996: Barack Obama runs for and wins the Illinois State Senate seat as the Democratic Party candidate. As the Democrats were a minority in the Senate, his initiatives could not get passed there.

1998: Malia Ann, the first daughter of the Obamas, is born. Barack is also elected to the Illinois Senate for the second time.

1999: Barack Obama runs for the US Congress seat, but loses to his rival, who was an experienced politician. He resumes his work as the Illinois State Senator and succeeds to get 20 pieces of legislation passed in next several years.

2001: Natasha (also called Sasha), the second daughter of the Obamas, is born.

2002: Barack Obama is elected again to the Illinois State Senate.

2004: In November, Barack Obama, at the age of 43, wins the US Senate seat from Illinois .

2006: Obama's second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, is published.

2007: On February 10, Obama announces his candidacy for the President of the US in 2008 presidential election.

2008: In June, Barack Obama becomes the nominee of the Democratic Party for the incoming presidential election. On November 4, he defeats the Republican Party candidate John McCain and is elected the 44th President of the US.

2009: On January 20, President-elect Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., the first African-American, is to be officially inaugurated in a ceremony unprecedented in the history of the United States. Millions of people are expected to descend on Washington, DC, to witness this historic event.

P.S. The irony is that President-elect Barack Obama's campaign fodder was the failed policies and actions of the incumbent President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. The Chicago Sun Times, through interviews with family members and genealogists, and a study of archives and records, and facts in Obama's book, Dreams from My Father, found that through his white mother's side, Barack Obama is related to Dick Cheney. They are ninth cousins once removed having the common ancestor, Mareen Duvall, a 17th century Huguenot who moved to the US from France.

Barack Obama is also related to the present President George W. Bush. They are 11th cousins, having the same 17th century ancestors, Samuel and Sarah Soole Hinckley, in Massachusetts.

(The End)

Barack Obama: A Biographical Timeline -- 1

(Clockwise from top): Little Barack Obama with mother Ann Dunham; Barack Obama with his dad Barack Hussein Obama, Sr.; Barack Obama with his maternal grandfather Stanlely Dunham and grandmother Madelyn Dunham; Cigarette-smoking Barack at the Occidental College in Los Angeles; and graduating Barack Obama at the Harvard Law School

 

Layout & Design: Joachim Romeo D'Costa

Photos: Courtesy (Top two) -- MSNBC, (middle) -- barack.obama.net, (bottom left) -- TIME, and (bottom right) -- The New York Times

c.1895: Onyango Obama -- father of Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., and grandfather of US President-elect Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. -- was born in Kenya, a British colony. He was a Roman Catholic and belonged to the Luo tribe. When he joined the British colonial forces, he among others, were sent on duties to Europe, India and Zanzibar Island in the Indian Ocean. When in Zanzibar, he converted to Islam and renamed himself Hussein Onyango Obama. He had three wives. He died in 1979.

1936: Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., was born at Kanyadhian Village in Rachuonyo District, Kenya, on the shores of Lake Victoria. He was intelligent and a serious student.

1959: Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., of Kenya is the first African student to attend the University of Hawaii, Honolulu. This student starts to study Math and Economics on an American scholarship. He leaves behind his Kenyan wife and baby son. Although he was born into a Muslim family, he was an theist before coming to the United States.

1961: On February 2, twenty-five-year old Barack Obama, Sr., marries 18-year old and three-month pregnant Ann Dunham, a white American student from Kansas. He had met her a few months earlier in a Russian-language class. Ann Dunham was not aware of the existence of his wife and son in Africa. At that time the inter-racial marriage being a rare phenomenon, their marriage was quite a daring act. On August 4, 1961, Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., the President-elect, is born in Honolulu. After completing one semester, Ann Dunham drops out of the classes.

1963: The senior Obama wins another scholarship for graduate study at the Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts. When he goes to Boston, his wife and son Barack stay behind in Honolulu. At this time the husband-wife relationship sours. Ann Dunham restarts her studies while Obama, Jr., is taken care of by his maternal grandparents.

1964: After divorcing Obama, Sr., Ann Dunham starts dating an Indonesian Muslim university student, Lolo Soetoro.

1965: After completing his studies at the Harvard, Obama, Sr., returns to Kenya with another American wife, Ruth Nidesand.

1967: Ann Dunham and Lolo Soetoro marry and settle in Jakarta, Indonesia, with 6-year old Obama, Jr., who faces first-hand mass poverty, beggary, irregular electricity and numerous chid deaths from sickness. He starts to attend a Catholic school, called St. Francis of Assissi Primary School. His mother joins American Embassy school as an English teacher.

1969: With Soetoro's new job with an American oil company, the family moves to a better neighbourhood and young Obama joins Besuki Public School.

1970: Maya Soetoro, Obama's half-sister is born in Jakarta. Ann Dunham feels homesick and her marriage also begins to falter.

1971: Ten-year old Barack Obama is sent to his grandparents in Hawaii, where he secures a scholarship to Punahou School, a prestigious institution in the State. Students begin to call Obama 'the black kid from Indonesia'.

1972: Ann Dunham leaves his husband Soetoro in Jakarta and retuns to Honolulu with 2-year old Maya and joins 11-year old Obama. She also starts her master's degree study in anthropology at the University of Hawaii.

In the same year, Barack Obama, Sr., on a short visit to Honolulu, meets with Ann Dunham and Obama, Jr., who found this visit confusing and as a disruption to his ongoing life. This is the last time that he meets his own father, who ultimately died in a motor accident in Kenya in 1982.

1975: In the school, Obama joins the basketball team and becomes the class leader. He still feels confused about his fitting in in the school, and as a result, he tries to drink beer, smoke marijuana and take cocaine as a means of showing his toughness.

1979: Barack Obama starts his sophomore studies at the Occidental College in Los Angeles. Although he has some black friends, still he does not feel quite at home with them. At the end of the year, he transfers to Columbia University in New York. He becomes serious with this studies and completes reading a good number of books on race and social injustice.

1980: Ann Dunham divorces her second husband Lolo Soetoro.

(More)

Why Canadians Like Barack Obama

Cartoon (Toronto: 2009) © Ujjal Peter D'Costa

President-elect Barack Obama has only four more days for being inaugurated the 44th President of the United States. He won 52.9% of votes in the country-wide election of November 4, 2008. His popularity was not limited within the US borders but overflowed into Canada and many other countries of the world.

The US is the immediate big brother neighbour of Canada. Moreover, the Canadian economy is closely interlinked with that of the US. Naturally Canadians are interested in US politics and presidential election campaigns.

From the beginning, Canadians had been eagerly watching the campaign news. Initially they knew little about Barack Obama and took him to be a neophyte in contrast to stalwarts like Hillary Clinton, John McCain and others.

As they started to listen to Obama, see his congenial gestures and postures, and come to know of his priorities and plans, most of them began to get attracted to him. Gradually groups like Canadians for Obama grew up whose members even volunteered in different ways with the Obama campaign.

Obaman Magnetism in Canada

The main factors that influenced Canadian likings (some came from my interviews of common people and others from official polling agencies) are as follows:

• Obama is a democrat, and a greater number of Canadians favour democrats and liberals.
• He is young, sprightly, and full of enthusiasm and verve.
• He is intelligent, eloquent and knowledgeable on topics he speaks on.
• Being a biracial, he could encompass both the whites and non-whites.
• He is positive in attitude and exudes hope for others.
• He comes from a humble background with which most Canadians find a commonality.
• He is calm and forgiving in face of bitter criticism, opposition and even racial slurs.
• He strives for unity among resenting opponents.
• His healthcare plan includes the common men and women.
• He is a caring husband and a loving father to his daughters.
• He wants to bring about a long-term change in the US and its policy abroad, including quick termination of the Iraq war and renewed fight against terrorism.
• He wants to create an integrated environmental energy policy.

In mid-May, 2008, a Canadian Press - Harris Decima poll had found that, if Canadians were to vote, 56% of them would vote for Barack Obama and 15% for John McCain.