The Winds of Change

There have been some interesting events of import the past few months.

Here are a few of the more noteworthy items. As a popular political refrain goes, it’s a time of change….

* North Korea conducts a nuclear test as “powerful as the Hiroshima bomb.” And the USA is not happy about it.  Also, Kim Jong-il names his son Kim Jong-eun as his successor.

* Barack Obama nominates Sonia Sotomayor to become a Supreme Court Justice. Her past comments about being a “wise Latina” generate controversy among Conservatives.

* The USA continues to bomb Afghanistan and Pakistan, murdering scores of civilians.

* Barack Obama announces a “sweeping” financial regulation plan.

* Once an icon of American capitalism, General Motors files for bankruptcy.

* Protests arise in Iran over disputed election results. The USA claims that it is not ”meddling” in Iran’s domestic affairs, but the evidence suggests otherwise and is even admitted to a degree by the mainstream media. Strangely, no Western countries expressed concern over similar disputed US elections in the past.

* Famed Ethnic Studies professor Ronald Takaki takes his own life. He had been suffering from multiple sclerosis for several years.  Another renown Asian American scholar Him Mark Lai also passed away, as did Filipino American poet Al Robles and activist and former Black Panther Richard Aoki.

* The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, died of cardiac arrest. One of his most compelling songs about change, ”Man in the Mirror,” is below: