What Happens After Elections

With the votes still being counted on November 4, 2008, the two leading candidates for the U.S. presidency played their roles in the concluding act of an established political drama. The first to speak was the defeated candidate, John McCain.

His concession speech followed a time-honored rhetorical formula: “My friends, we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him … on being elected the next president of the country that we both love. Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.”

Election Day: Democracy in Action

U.S. Elections

Bright balloons bob above a sea of rainbow-colored signs as loudspeakers blare music and announcements, and people in hats and shirts emblazoned with slogans hand out fliers, stickers and buttons. Election Day in the United States often arrives dressed as a carnival, ready to attract attention and excite voter interest.

The day begins early on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in villages, towns and cities across the United States, as thousands of volunteers rise before dawn to lend a hand during the elections. Some will line up outside campaign headquarters, eager to pick up the flyers, pamphlets and signs they will distribute at polling places in the hope of still influencing voters’ decisions.

American Scholar Finds Art, Love, Connections in Nigeria

On the bustling streets of the mainland Lagos neighborhood of Palmgrove, the children know her as Mama K.

American scholar Karen Marguerite Wilson-Ama’Echefu first came to Nigeria as a Fulbright Scholar in mid-2011. After earning her PhD in American history from the University of California, Riverside in 2007, Wilson-Ama’Echefu, who is also a singer and storyteller, set out to explore the reflections and roots of African American diasporic culture in African culture in Nigeria and Ghana over the 9-month duration of her grant.

Rock the Vote -- It’s your Right!

Ask any American and they’re likely to remember the first time they voted, especially if that experience happened to coincide with a Presidential election.  Mine didn’t, but that didn’t keep me from voting.  For even if there isn’t a new (or current) President to (re)elect, every two years the U.S House of Representatives changes and every 6 years the Senate.  In short, every year our local, state and federal government changes in some manner through new representatives.  That’s important to consider, every first Tuesday in November, America’s Election Day, we vote not just for representatives on the national level, but also state and local level.  Even the new sheriff in town is voted on that day for his/her term.  New laws are voted on – should the county or state change its position on parking laws for example.

Biotechnology can feed the world

“Critics of Biotechnology say the process, especially in Agriculture does more harm than good; either to the consumer or the environment. Thousands of good things are criticized; sometimes simply because the critic has no clear understanding or has a different view. In the case of Biotechnology I think most times it’s due to the former, and this brings the question “what is Biotechnology?”

Agricultural Biotechnology is a process of enhancing seeds. The actual process called genetic modification takes place in the laboratory, where genes of a particular plant are transferred to another in order to enhance it. In this process for instance, genes of plants that grow without adequate rainfall are extracted and transferred to a plant that needs much water.