President Barack Obama vowed to end military discrimination towards gays, especially the infamous “don’t ask-don’t tell” policy. Obama admitted, though, that these policy changes, especially the gay military ban, he had promised since the campaign trail have not come as soon as planned.

At the Human Rights Campaign annual dinner, Obama vowed:

“I will end ‘don’t ask-don’t tell.’”

The US President also commended the patriotism of homosexuals in the military and condoned the military gay ban by adding:

“We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve the country. We should be celebrating their willingness to step forward and show such courage… especially when we are fighting two wars.

He did not, however, declare a timetable or any more specific details regarding the military gay ban. Obama instead reassured the crowd at the Human Rights Campaign dinner that progress regarding the military gay ban issue will come:

“I appreciate that many of you don’t believe progress has come fast enough. Do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach.”

Apart from the discrimination that homosexuals face in the military, President Obama also called on Congress to repeal the Defense Of Marriage Act. The act details and limits how state, local, and federal bodies can recognize partnerships and thus determine benefits. He pushed for a law to extend benefits to domestic partners which will definitely advantageous for gay partnerships and marriages.

Overall, Obama expressed strong and reassuring support for the Human Rights Campaign agenda. It seems that the president is unwavering in his resolve at ending discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people. Whether it be regarding the military gay ban or any other form of sexual discrimination, Obama stated:

“My expectation is that when you look back on these years you will look back and see a time when we put a stop against discrimination … whether in the office or the battlefield.”

United States President Barack Obama was declared the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner for his efforts aimed at reducing nuclear arms, promoting diplomacy in place of war, and appeasing the Islamic community. Despite the Nobel Peace Prize win, Nobel observers were shocked by the Obama win because they deem it still too early in his presidency.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognized the efforts of Obama at promoting peace but at the same time admitted that some of his plans, such as reducing nuclear arms, bringing the Islam community at peace with the US, and spearheading climate change.

The chairman of the Nobel Committee, Thorbjoern Jagland, stated about the Obama Nobel Peace Prize win:

“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future.”

But because the U.S. is still at war in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, and the US still has not taken up a bigger role in promoting climate change, people like former Polish President Lech Walesa, a 1983 Nobel Peace laureate, criticized the Obama Nobel Peace Prize win, saying:

“So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far. He is still at an early stage. He is only beginning to act.”

He did, however, gave room for Obama to operate and prove his worth as a Nobel Peace Prize winner:

“This is probably an encouragement for him to act. Let’s see if he perseveres. Let’s give him time to act.”

Many had expected others to be this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, like Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a Chinese dissident, and an Afghan woman’s rights activist. A record 205 people were nominated and vied to be a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg lauded the decision for Obama as the Nobel Peace Prize winner, stating:

“The exciting and important thing about this prize is that it’s given to someone … who has the power to contribute to peace,”

Barack Obama is only the third sitting U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize, after President Theodore Roosevelt won it in 1906 and President Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

Read the Sarah Palin Hong Kong speech transcript below. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin gave a speech to fund managers in Hong Kong to attack the Federal Reserve for encouraging excessive risk-taking that led to the downfall of the economy. Palin blamed the Fed for the troubles that working class Americans face today.

The former Vice Presidential candidate trooped to Asia and delivered her 80-minute speech to talk about a host of issues, including the US economy and the controversial Barack Obama health care program. Obama appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and other TV shows to promote his proposed health care plan to viewers.

More details on the Palin speech transcript below. Sarah Palin spoke to a full house in the main ballroom of Grand Hyatt hotel in Hong Kong. About how the Fed protects multinational companies, she stated:

“…The bigger that you are, the more problems that you get yourself into, the more likely the government is to bail you out. Of course the little guys are left out then. We’re left holding the bag, all the moms and pops all over America.”

She also criticized the United States president’s plan to give the Fed high authority to monitor the conditions of the financial system, especially since a financial meltdown last year led to $1.6 trillion in bank losses and incited a global economic recession. Palin added:

“How can we think that setting up the Fed as monitor of systemic risk in the financial sector will result in meaningful reform. The words ‘fox’ and ‘henhouse’ come to mind.”

The Palin Hong Kong speech transcript is the former Alaska governor’s first major public appearance since resigning as Alaska governor on July 26. Sarah Palin ran with John McCain, who lost to Barack Obama in the presidential race.

Watch President Barack Obama guest on the “Late Show with David Letterman” and discuss national issues while making the crowd laugh. David Letterman started the show by listing the ten reasons why Obama agreed to do the Late Show appearance. One of his reasons included: Obama said yes without thinking about it,

“…like Bush did with Iraq.”

In the video, Barack Obama then discussed the controversial health care plan and addressed the supposed racism issue behind it by saying:

“First of all, I think it’s important to realize that I was actually black before the election.”

The crowd laughed as David Letterman quipped:

“How long have you been a black man?”

Obama further discussed the country’s unemployment rate, which currently sits at 9.7%. The president admitted on the Late Show that the unemployment problem will linger for about another year. Obama also admitted that he will have to review the war in Afghanistan before making any decisions on increasing the troops or bringing them back home.

The video of the appearance at the Late Show by President Obama marked the first time that a sitting president appeared on the program of David Letterman. These media appearances by Obama are being used by the government to get people to support the controversial health care plan.

The appearance of President Barack Obama at the Late Show with David Letterman will be shown on CBS on Monday evening. Watch the video of Obama on the Late Show with David Letterman:

Listen to President Barack Obama call Kanye West a “jackass” for interrupting Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards. Obama called Kanye West a “jackass” over at an off the record interview with John Harwood of CNBC.

Obama called Kanye West a jackass because West interrupted the acceptance speech of Taylor Swift which she was delivering when she won for Best Female Video at the VMAs. Swift’s song “You Belong with Me” beat “Single Ladies” of Beyonce, which caused the outrage of Kanye West.

Obama hastily took back what he said, asking the CNBC crew to keep his remark private, especially since the real interview had not even started yet. The comment, however, was overheard by ABC employees and was quickly posted on Twitter.

Listen to the tape where Obama called Kanye West a jackass below:

Watch President Obama deliver his heatlh care reform speech below. Obama’s health care speech was pivotal, given the many controversies surrounding the issue.

Many even say that Obama was editing his speech until the very last moments, especially during the hour when polls showed that people disapprove his handling of the issue.

Though the president received several standing ovations, N.C. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson clearly opposed him, yelling:

“You lie!”

This happened after Obama said health care reform would not cover illegal immigrants. Sen John McCain, on the other hand, smiled the president praised him for championing a version of health care reform while they were campaigning for the presidency months back.

Obama also talked about the cost implications of the health care reform. He stated:

“Here’s what you need to know. First, I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits – either now or in the future. Period. And to prove that I’m serious, there will be a provision in this plan that requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promised don’t materialize.”

Watch the Obama health care speech video below:

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama

Back to School Event

Arlington, Virginia

September 8, 2009

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today. I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.   Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.”So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year. Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn. I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox. I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve. But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide. Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future. You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy. We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country. Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in. So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse. But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right. But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying. Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America. Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall. And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same. That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it. I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things. But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.That’s OK.  Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying. No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals. And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?  Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.