I love Ray Charles

The legendary, multitalented, blind, musician Ray Charles was the best vocalist, piano player, song writer, and arranger in the last several decades. According to the Legends of Swing Music.net biography, Ray Charles was born during the great depression in the Deep South and was raised on blues, country, gospel, jazz, and big band music.
Throughout his long career, Ray skillfully and artistically combined these separate musical elements together, added his own unique personality and style, and released the end result for the world to hear.
I have listened to Ray music since I was a child. I like most of his songs. Most of all, I like “America the Beautiful,” “Georgia on My Mind,” “Mess Around” and “I Got A Woman.” Ray won 17 Grammy Awards. He was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. I watched a very exciting film about Ray. The film explored his life and career. The film star, Jamie Foxx has been awarded the 2005 Academy Award for the best actor for this film.

The New Beginning

During the 2008 presidential election, president Obama pledged to lift travel restrictions so that the Cuban-Americans can visit their families in Cuba. He also promised to eliminate caps on the remittance they can send back to their families.
Mr. Obama’s promise has eased the United States’ long–standing embargo on Cuba, allowing Cuban Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money to them more easily. I support Mr. Obama’s policy towards Cuba. I believe that the U.S policy toward Cuba for the last 50 years failed. The U.S. foreign policy needs to be changed.
Besides, president Obama said during the summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago last week, “the U.S. seeks a ‘new beginning’ with Cuba and an ‘equal partnership’ with all the nations of the Americas.” I hope the new U.S. administration’s foreign policy toward the Americas will be more successful than the previous one.

Soccer

“Some people believe that soccer is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude, it is much, much more important
than that!” Billy Shankey soccer fun.

Soccer is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world. Soccer or football is a very likable sport in Europe, Latin America and Africa. According to a history of soccer website, almost 150 years have passed since soccer was officially born in a Tavern, in London. In such a short period of time, soccer went from a local phenomenon around England, to an international game that is watched and loved by close to 3 billion people worldwide. FIFA (Federation International Football Association) is responsible for the organization and governance of football’s international tournaments.
UK, Italy, and Spain have strong soccer teams. The players come from different parts of the world. Most professional players are paid a big amount of money. I have liked to watch soccer since I was a child. Italy, Brazil, Ghana, Cameron and Nigeria are my favorite teams. The U.S. men’s soccer team has been improved in short period of time. Soccer has steadily grown in popularity in America. The U.S. Soccer team is now ranked 15th in the FIFA world ranking. The U.S. soccer team will participate in the next World Cup. The next World Cup will be held in South Africa, between June 11 and July 11, 2010.

Obama's Apparent Bow Caused Outrage

Saudi Arabia is one of a number of countries where courts continue to impose corporal punishment, including amputations of hands and feet for robbery, and lashings for lesser crimes such as “sexual deviance” and drunkenness. This country is an undemocratic country. I do not know how the leader of the free world chose to bow to this king. I do not think any presidential protocol exists on the president bowing. It was poor judgment on his part. The Washington Times said in an editorial, “By bending over to show greater respect to Islam, the U.S. president belittled the power and independence of the United States.” However, the White House denied that the president bowed.

Madonna

Pop star Madonna’s bid to adopt a Malawi child has filed in last week. Madonna, who was asking for an interim adoption, appealed against a high court decision denying her bid to adopt a four-year-old girl. Malawi is an impoverished country that has an estimated one million orphaned children. Madonna has set up a charity for Malawian children. The country is devastated by the AIDS epidemic like most African countries.
This adoption child would be Madonna’s second child from Malawi. Even though Madonna’s adoption has failed so far, she and Angelina Jolie adopt more infant from Africa, inspiring more Americans to consider African adoption. According to Federal Office of Immigration Statistics, last year, nearly 23,000 children born abroad were adopted into American families-more than three times the number of international adoptions. Also, the number of African adoption children adopted by American parents rose from 66% to 94% respectively, between fiscal years 2005 and 2006.