Obama…New Chapter in American History

A couple of years ago Barack Obama was just a junior senator of the Democratic Party. Today he wrote a new chapter in the history of the United States by becoming the first-ever African American occupant of the White House.
It was no easy task going from that to this.

When the race for the Democratic Party president ticket began, Senator Hillary Clinton was not just the front-runner but the presumptive nominee.
She had the money and the Party establishment, being a former first lady and wife of arguably one of America's most loved and respected presidents, Bill Clinton.
She had a long history of public service and an unmatched seniority within the Democratic Party and the Senate.

The young, charismatic Illinois senator also had to steer his ship through some tough storms.
Obama's middle name, Hussein, and a picture of him in a traditional Somali garb during a visit to his father's homeland Kenya in 2006 stoke the "Obama is a Muslim" flames.

For weeks, he had to put up with news reports and rival remarks of being a Muslim in disguise.
Obama is the son of a Muslim-turned-atheist Kenyan father and a white American mother that did not practice religion.
Born in Hawaii, he lived from ages 6 to 10 in Indonesia with his mother and Muslim stepfather.
Obama, who describes himself as a proud follower of the Trinity United Church of Christ, also stumbled for weeks over inflammatory sermons by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his pastor for the last 20 years.
Even his wife Michelle was not spared the campaign fire. He recently had to come out in force against Republicans using her as punch-bag.

Making History

But Obama's hope and change message resonated across a country wearied by the Iraq war and stalked by fears of recession.
He beat all the odds being overwhelming elected the first black American president in a transformational election that will reshape US politics and reposition the United States on the world stage.

Obama's victory was greeted with euphoria by a vast crowd gathered in his home city of Chicago, as his supporters, screamed, waved American flags as they waited for him to arrive to deliver his victory speech.
The 47-year-old will be inaugurated the 44th US president on January 20, 2009, in an historic inauguration that will complete a stunning ascent to the pinnacle of US and global politics from national obscurity just four years ago.
The presidency also marks a stunning social shift, with Obama, the son of Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, the first African American president of a nation still riven by racial divides.

Forty-five years after civil rights icon Martin Luther King laid out his "dream" of racial equality, Obama's election broke new barriers and may have helped heal the moral wounds left by slavery and the US civil war.
He rocketed to prominence at the 2004 Democratic presidential convention with an electrifying call for unity.
"There is not a Black America and a White America….there's the United States of America."
Source : Islam Online

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Arabia Businesswomen 2008 : Afnan al-Zayani

ARABIAN BUSINESSWOMAN: Afnan al-Zayani is the President of Al Zayani Commercial Services, Bahrain.

Al Zayani Commercial Services W.L.L. was established in 1980. Today, it represents various products and services from internationally reputed companies providing world class state of the art products, services and solutions by having a network of business associates, joint ventures and contacts all over the world. Al Zayani Commercial Services ‘s customer base covers ministries, banks, major companies, multi national organizations, institutes, as well as the business sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Al Zayani Commercial Services W.L.L comprises of three main divisions:
Office Automation Division:
AZCS office automation division provides a comprehensive range of Digital office equipment products under one roof. A team of professional sales, factory trained engineers and experienced system support engineers supports AZCS office automation division. Large quantities of consumables and spare parts are stocked to meet customer’s requirement at all time.

IT Solutions Division:
I T Solutions Division is a solution provider specialized in Document Imaging, Archiving, Management, data capture, and COLD applications. We are one of the reseller of handheld terminals and barcode equipment in the country.

Trading & Tendering Division:
This highly successful division of Al Zayani Commercial Services W.L.L. participates in tenders to major companies and government establishments in Bahrain. In recognition of its professionalism, Al Zayani Trading and Tendering has been awarded an ever increasing number of tenders to supply projects in ports, schools, hospitals, industrial companies and many business in Bahrain. We also represent various product/services offered by internationally reputed companies.

Tree of Life:
Tree of Life is one of the division of Al Zayani Commercial Services, specialized in producing a full range of decorative plants and arrangements, made in Bahrain to the customers’ requirement. Tree of life's art design plants provide a convenient and equally attractive alternative to natural trees and plants.

BUSINESS CENTRE
A division of Al-Zayani Commercial Services - Office Automation Division. The Business Centre provides personalized services to all major companies, ministries and institutions as well as conference services with operators and equipments.
RICOH Business Centre services are:
Desktop Publishing, Thermal & Spiral Binding of documents, Printing on T-shirts, Caps, Mugs and personalized items, Graphic designing, Flyers designing and printing using PC and Mac, Full color and Black & White copying (A5-A3), plus transparencies, Engineering Drawings copying, plotting using AutoCad2000 and scanning, Arabic and English Typing, Plastic identity cards designing and printing, CD creation, Document Scanning, Multimedia projectors and screens rentals, Lease/ Rent of photocopiers, fax machines, scanners and printers with or without operators.

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Obama gets down to business

CHICAGO: President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday that the US is facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime and were going to have to act swiftly to resolve it.

However in his first news conference since winning the presidency on Tuesday, Obama deferred to President George W. Bush and his economic team, noting that the country has only one government and one president at a time.

But, he said, immediately after I become president I will confront this economic crisis head-on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity.

The president-elect spoke after he and Vice President-elect Joe Biden met privately with economic experts to discuss ways to stabilize the troubled economy.

The meeting included Lawrence Summers, who some have mentioned as a candidate for treasury secretary, a post he held in the Clinton administration, as well as executives from Xerox Corp., Time Warner Inc., Google Inc. and the Hyatt hotel company.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, who will be Obamas White House chief of staff, also participated in the meeting. Were not starting from nowhere, Summers told NBCs Today show. Throughout his campaign the president-elect has been talking about what we need to do. We need to put the middle class at the center of the policy approach in a way that it hasnt been these last years.

Exit polls from the election showed that the economy was far and away the top issue for voters. More evidence of a recession came yesterday when the government reported that the unemployment rate had jumped from 6.1 percent in September to 6.5 percent in October.

Obama has been meeting privately with his transition team, receiving congratulatory phone calls from US allies and intelligence briefings, and making decisions about who will help run his government after he is sworn in Jan. 20.

His first choice was Emanuel for White House chief of staff, a fiery partisan unafraid of breaking glass and hurting feelings. The choice of Emanuel is a significant departure from the soft-spoken, low-key aides that No-Drama Obama surrounded himself with during the campaign. And transition chief John Podesta, like Emanuel, is a former top aide to President Bill Clinton and a tough partisan infighter, though less bombastic than the new chief of staff.

The selections are telling for Obama, who campaigned as a nontraditional, almost post-partisan” newcomer. People close to him say the selections show he is aware of his strengths and weaknesses, and knows what he needs to be successful as he shifts from campaigning to governing.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, planned to visit the White House on Monday at President George W. Bushs invitation.

Obama planned to stay home through the weekend, with a blackout on news announcements so he and his staff can rest after the grueling campaign and the rush of Tuesday nights victory.

Obama, who bested Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, has made it clear he will rely heavily on veterans of her husbands eight-year administration, the only Democratic presidency in the past 28 years.

Source : Islam Online

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