The time has come for a different kind of government and political system in the United States of America. We, the citizens of this nation, need and want a person that can lead us and change the country for the better.

This person is the Honorable Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.
This is the man I want to be President.
I don’t only want him to become President, we need him to become president.

For the first time in my life, I will have the opportunity to vote. (I turned eighteen years old a month ago) Two years ago, I bought The Audacity of Hope, as a Christmas present for my father. I think this is when it all started to set in for me. As the primaries started to happen I started to follow the political scene more closely.

Barack Obama has a strong plan for the country that spans many important issues. The big ones are talked about in the news and are the ones that most people have heard about, but there are some other ones that I feel are just as important.

There is a strong Technology plan in place. Everything from keeping the internet open to privacy rights are included. Barack wants to open the government up to the citizens by allowing them to participate, ask questions, present ideas, and stay informed. He plans to make government data universally available online. He wants to open up government decision making and tap into the knowledge and ideas that people outside of the government have. Personally, this is a very important plan and something that I believe strongly in. This will change the way the government works.

Another aspect is the Service plan. Barack is calling for people to become more involved with their communities by assisting fellow citizens. The plan is to make it easier for people to serve their country through volunteer work and more. He wants to build service into the education program. He plans to invest federal seed money into non-profit organizations.

As for his other plans, I would like to see him bring creativity into schools more and I am not completely sure that reforming No Child Left Behind is the right direction to go in. I would also like to see a stronger environment and energy plan, all of the candidates have similar plans and I think this is an area where Barack can really make a stand.

Learn more about Barack Obama’s Blueprint for Change which spans all of the issues.

Someday I would like to meet Barack Obama and get to talk to him for a couple minutes. To share my ideas with him and show my support. From watching videos and hearing stories, Barack seems like a normal guy and a real person.

He wants all of us to be agents of change, once we get him elected we still get to help him. Throughout his campaign, many people have been contributing their time and resources. Imagine if we were able to participate like this when Barack Obama is president! To be able to participate in the government of the nation like this would be amazing! We will have a different kind of White House, one that listens to the people.

Michael Bierut discusses the brand and design.
Lawrence Lessig shares his thoughts on Barack with us.
Marc Andreessen shares the story of his hour and a half with Barack.
Kitsune Noir provides perspectives from three people.

This is a video created by some great people to help spread the word. It is not connected to the campaign and Barack did not ask for it to be created. It has been viewed millions and millions of times.

Learn more about my book (early stages, coming soon) on how we can change the country and world and solve our global problems by using new ideas and fixing how governments work.

And I just donated to Barack Obama’s campaign for change!

Thanks for reading and please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas with me.
Barack Obama has and will provide Change We Can Believe In! Imagine!

I am in the process of reading Thomas L. Friedman’s article in the most recent New York Times Sunday Magazine. He suggests that by becoming a green nation we can fix the problems of terrorism, the environment, and our economy. The idea that he has here, is one that needs to be payed attention to. Before reading his article, I thought the only benefit of becoming a green nation would be helping the environment, but it can do so much more.

Go read the article.

“America will need, and want, to get its groove back. We will need to find a way to reknit America at home, reconnect America abroad and restore America to its natural place in the global order — as the beacon of progress, hope and inspiration. I have an idea how. It’s called ‘green.’ ”

So here is how it all went done on the four days we were in Boston for the Harvard Model United Nations.

Thursday
-Arrive at Boston Park Plaza Hotel which was all decorated for Christmas
-Lawrence H. Summers was the keynote speaker. He is the ex-president of Harvard and has quite a background.
-Headed of to committee. Committee is the part of the conference when 200+ are in a big room discussing a certain topic and representing our countries views. I was on the Special Political and Decolonization committee and our topic was the Spratly Islands.
-Stayed up late and at pizza.

Friday
-Went to Harvard on the T (the subway)
-Shopped around Cambridge and ate at The Garage.
-Went to comittee on the Harvard campus.
-Back to the city.
-Met two sophmores at Tufts and one freshman from Harvard that we know from our school for dinner.
-Committee
-Played Wii, ate more pizza, stayed up late.

Saturday
-Committee.
-Went to the Copley Mall for shopping and lunch
-Committee.
-Walked around Boston.
-Checked out Emerson College.
-Saw Borat and the second half of Apocalypto (Movie reviews coming soon)
-Big dance for all 2000 kids at the conference.
-Stayed up late eating pizza and hanging out.

Sunday
-Committee.
-Pass resolution, finallly.
-Go home
-Decorate Christmas Tree.

I am heading down to the United Nations building in New York City. I have not been there before, and am looking forward to getting a tour of the place. Then, our group of fifteen is heading over to a mission to have a discussion with some actual delegates. The most exciting part is that these people directly relate to another trip I will be taking soon to the Model United Nations Conference at Harvard. What is Model UN you ask.

Model UN is a club at my school. We go to three conferences a year at Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown. At each conference we act as delegates representing the specific country that has been asigned to our school. There are seperate General Assembly committees with around 200 kids and then smaller specialized committees with around 15 to 30 kids. The topics range from Dissarmament to Decolonization to Health Issues.

We are assigned a topic to research and then go to the conference to represent our assigned countries position, not our personal views. We debate the issues and write resolutions. It may sound boring but it is really a great time. (You will find out in some future posts)

So, we will be heading down to the mission of the country that we are representing to discuss the issues and topics that we have been assigned with the actual delegates from our country. Awesome, right?

I will let you know how it goes in NYC and I look forward to being able to blog from the actual conference at Harvard.