HMMM.....

STG International Hires Former CBP CHCO Bob Hosenfeld as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives

Market Wire,  November, 2008  

STG International, Inc. (STG), a nationwide provider of human capital management solutions, medical staffing/services, and professional consulting services to the federal government, is pleased to announce the addition of Robert 'Bob' Hosenfeld as the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. Mr. Hosenfeld comes to STG after serving as Assistant Commissioner for Human Resource Management for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

STG International Awarded 5-year $84M Blanket Purchase Agreement to support DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Alexandria, VA – November 20, 2008 – 

STG International, a leading provider of missioncritical and staffing services for the Federal Government, has been awarded a 5‐year, $84M Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) to support the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of the Department of Homeland Security.

The scope of this effort is to supplement the Federal staff with the full range of human capital operational, consulting and advisory services pertaining to: workforce planning, information systems, position classification, employee compensation, staffing, recruitment, employee benefits, employee development, personnel security, and performance management.

“We are extremely excited to be able to support the Department of Homeland Security

in its crucial mission of securing our borders” Michelle Lee, STG President and CEO, said

of this win, “STG International is committed to providing superior support throughout

the life of this BPA in addition to supporting all of our other customers within DHS.”

About STG International:

 

STG International, Inc (www.stginternational.com) is a minority‐owned, woman‐owned

contracting company, proudly associated with such distinctions as Inc. 500, Fast 50, and

Future 50. STG International is dedicated to providing high‐quality professional

healthcare services to government and private sector clients. STG International offers a

diverse array of staffing and mission‐critical services, offering support in healthcare

programs, medical services, human capital management, management consulting, and

recruitment. Founded in 1997, STG International is headquartered in Alexandria, VA,

and has a workforce of 1,700 employees across 37 states.

shame

In a nation that does not provide for decent health care of its citizens, what can we expect of health care provided to detainees held by us?

List of Questionable Deaths in Detention March 2003 to March 2008

Name Location of Death	Date of Death	Age	Country of Birth
Luis Dubegel-Paez Rolling Plains Detention Facility (Tex.)	3/14/08	60	Cuba
Francisco Castaneda Home after release from Otay Mesa (Calif.)	2/16/08	36	El Salvador
Juan Alejandro Guevara-Lazaro Thomason Hospital (Tex.)	8/13/07	21	Mexico
Rosa Contreras-Dominquez El Paso Service Processing Center (Tex.)	8/7/07	35	Mexico
Victor Arellano Little Company of Mary San Pedro Hospital (Calif.)	7/20/07	23	Mexico
Boubacar Bah University of Medicine (N.J.)	5/30/07	52	Guinea
Nery Romero Bergen County Jail (N.J.)	2/12/07	22	El Salvador
Jesus Cervantes-Corona Northwest Detention Center (Wash.)	11/18/06	42	Mexico
Antonio Martinez-Rivas Houston Contract Detention Facility (Tex.)	10/4/06	44	Mexico
Carlos Cortez-Raudel Mira Loma Detention Center (Calif.)	10/3/06	22	Mexico
Jose Lopez-Gregorio Eloy Federal Contract Facility (Ariz.)	9/29/06	32	Guatemala
Yusif Osman Otay Mesa detention facility (Calif.)	6/27/06	34	Ghana
Miguel Rodriguez-Gonzalez San Pedro Peninsula Hospital (Calif.)	5/21/06	43	Mexico
Geovanny Garcia-Mejia Newton County Correctional Center (Tex.)	3/18/06	27	Honduras
Felipe Garcia-Sanchez Oakdale Federal Detention Center (La.)	2/10/06	21	Colombia
Juan Salazar-Gomez Eloy Federal Contract Facility (Ariz.)	12/14/05	29	Mexico
Reinaldo Prado-Arencilia Northeast Medical Center (Tex.)	10/3/05	37	Cuba
Walter Alvarez-Esquivel Laredo Medical Center (Tex.)	6/30/05	46	Guatemala
Hassiba Belbachir McHenry County Jail (Ill.)	3/17/05	27	Algeria
Sung Soo Heo Passaic County Jail (N.J.)	2/16/05	51	Korea
Ignacio Sarabia-Vallasenor Otay Mesa detention facility (Calif.)	1/4/05	32	Mexico
Joseph Dantica Jackson Memorial Hospital (Fla.)	11/3/04	81	Haiti
Simon Reyes-Altimirano Mesa Hills Specialty Hospital (Tex.)	10/12/04	25	Hondurus
Ervin Ruiz-Tabares Guaynabo Metropolitan Detention Center (P.R.)	9/25/04	24	Colombia
Sebastian Mejia Vicentes Hampton Roads Regional Jail (Va.)	8/22/04	27	Mexico
Juan Figueredo-Lopez U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners (Mo.)	5/29/04	45	Cuba
Cesar Rioz-Martinez Frio County Jail (Tex.)	2/16/04	25	Mexico
Adetunji Popoola Parkland Memorial Hospital (Tex.)	2/1/04	48	Nigeria
Bill Roy Kurt Marion San Diego Correctional Facility (Calif.)	7/31/03	?	Unknown
Kwan A. Chong San Pedro/UCLA-Harbor Hospital (Calif.)	6/10/03	?	Unknown

SOURCES: Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other sources | By Justin Ferrell, Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso, Julie Tate and Larry Nista, The Washington Post - May 10, 2008.

Thanksgiving

Deconstructing the Myths of “The First Thanksgiving”
by Judy Dow (Abenaki) and Beverly Slapin
Revised 06/12/06

What is it about the story of “The First Thanksgiving” that makes it essential to be taught in virtually every grade from preschool through high school? What is it about the story that is so seductive? Why has it become an annual elementary school tradition to hold Thanksgiving pageants, with young children dressing up in paper-bag costumes and feather-duster headdresses and marching around the schoolyard? Why is it seen as necessary for fake “pilgrims” and fake “Indians” (portrayed by real children, many of whom are Indian) to sit down every year to a fake feast, acting out fake scenarios and reciting fake dialogue about friendship? And why do teachers all over the country continue (for the most part, unknowingly) to perpetuate this myth year after year after year?

Is it because as Americans we have a deep need to believe that the soil we live on and the country on which it is based was founded on integrity and cooperation? This belief would help contradict any feelings of guilt that could haunt us when we look at our role in more recent history in dealing with other indigenous peoples in other countries. If we dare to give up the “myth” we may have to take responsibility for our actions both concerning indigenous peoples of this land as well as those brought to this land in violation of everything that makes us human. The realization of these truths untold might crumble the foundation of what many believe is a true democracy. As good people, can we be strong enough to learn the truths of our collective past? Can we learn from our mistakes? This would be our hope.

We offer these myths and facts to assist students, parents and teachers in thinking critically about this holiday, and deconstructing what we have been taught about the history of this continent and the world. (Note: We have based our “fact” sections in large part on the research, both published and unpublished, that Abenaki scholar Margaret M. Bruchac developed in collaboration with the Wampanoag Indian Program at Plimoth Plantation. We thank Marge for her generosity. We thank Doris Seale and Lakota Harden for their support.)

Myth #1: “The First Thanksgiving” occurred in 1621.

Fact: No one knows when the “first” thanksgiving occurred. People have been giving thanks for as long as people have existed. Indigenous nations all over the world have celebrations of the harvest that come from very old traditions; for Native peoples, thanksgiving comes not once a year, but every day, for all the gifts of life. To refer to the harvest feast of 1621 as “The First Thanksgiving” disappears Indian peoples in the eyes of non-Native children.

Myth #2: The people who came across the ocean on the Mayflower were called Pilgrims.

Fact: The Plimoth settlers did not refer to themselves as “Pilgrims.” Pilgrims are people who travel for religious reasons, such as Muslims who make a pilgrimage to Mecca. Most of those who arrived here from England were religious dissidents who had broken away from the Church of England. They called themselves “Saints”; others called them “Separatists.” Some of the settlers were “Puritans,” dissidents but not separatists who wanted to “purify” the Church. It wasn’t until around the time of the American Revolution that the name “Pilgrims” came to be associated with the Plimoth settlers, and the “Pilgrims” became the symbol of American morality and Christian faith, fortitude, and family. (1)

Myth #3: The colonists came seeking freedom of religion in a new land.

Fact: The colonists were not just innocent refugees from religious persecution. By 1620, hundreds of Native people had already been to England and back, most as captives; so the Plimoth colonists knew full well that the land they were settling on was inhabited. Nevertheless, their belief system taught them that any land that was “unimproved” was “wild” and theirs for the taking; that the people who lived there were roving heathens with no right to the land. Both the Separatists and Puritans were rigid fundamentalists who came here fully intending to take the land away from its Native inhabitants and establish a new nation, their “Holy Kingdom.” The Plimoth colonists were never concerned with “freedom of religion” for anyone but themselves. (2)

Myth #4: When the “Pilgrims” landed, they first stepped foot on “Plymouth Rock.”

Fact: When the colonists landed, they sought out a sandy inlet in which to beach the little shallop that carried them from the Mayflower to the mainland. This shallop would have been smashed to smithereens had they docked at a rock, especially a Rock. Although the Plimoth settlers built their homes just up the hill from the Rock, William Bradford in Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, does not even mention the Rock; writing only that they “unshipped our shallop and drew her on land.” (3) The actual “rock” is a slab of Dedham granodiorite placed there by a receding glacier some 20,000 years ago. It was first referred to in a town surveying record in 1715, almost 100 years after the landing. Since then, the Rock has been moved, cracked in two, pasted together, carved up, chipped apart by tourists, cracked again, and now rests as a memorial to something that never happened. (4)

It’s quite possible that the myth about the “Pilgrims” landing on a “Rock” originated as a reference to the New Testament of the Christian bible, in which Jesus says to Peter, “And I say also unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) The appeal to these scriptures gives credence to the sanctity of colonization and the divine destiny of the dominant culture. Although the colonists were not dominant then, they behaved as though they were.

Myth #5: The Pilgrims found corn.

Fact: Just a few days after landing, a party of about 16 settlers led by Captain Myles Standish followed a Nauset trail and came upon an iron kettle and a cache of Indian corn buried in the sand. They made off with the corn and returned a few days later with reinforcements. This larger group “found” a larger store of corn, about ten bushels, and took it. They also “found” several graves, and, according to Mourt’s Relation, “brought sundry of the prettiest things away” from a child’s grave and then covered up the corpse. They also “found” two Indian dwellings and “some of the best things we took away with us.” (5) There is no record that restitution was ever made for the stolen corn, and the Wampanoag did not soon forget the colonists’ ransacking of Indian graves. (6)

Myth #6: Samoset appeared out of nowhere, and along with Squanto became friends with the Pilgrims. Squanto helped the Pilgrims survive and joined them at “The First Thanksgiving.”

Fact: Samoset, an eastern Abenaki chief, was the first to contact the Plimoth colonists. He was investigating the settlement to gather information and report to Massasoit, the head sachem in the Wampanoag territory. In his hand, Samoset carried two arrows: one blunt and one pointed. The question to the settlers was: are you friend or foe? Samoset brought Tisquantum (Squanto), one of the few survivors of the original Wampanoag village of Pawtuxet, to meet the English and keep an eye on them. Tisquantum had been taken captive by English captains several years earlier, and both he and Samoset spoke English. Tisquantum agreed to live among the colonists and serve as a translator. Massasoit also sent Hobbamock and his family to live near the colony to keep an eye on the settlement and also to watch Tisquantum, whom Massasoit did not trust. The Wampanoag oral tradition says that Massasoit ordered Tisquantum killed after he tried to stir up the English against the Wampanoag. Massasoit himself lost face after his years of dealing with the English only led to warfare and land grabs. Tisquantum is viewed by Wampanoag people as a traitor, for his scheming against other Native people for his own gain. Massasoit is viewed as a wise and generous leader whose affection for the English may have led him to be too tolerant of their ways. (7)

Myth #7: The Pilgrims invited the Indians to celebrate the First Thanksgiving.

Fact: According to oral accounts from the Wampanoag people, when the Native people nearby first heard the gunshots of the hunting colonists, they thought that the colonists were preparing for war and that Massasoit needed to be informed. When Massasoit showed up with 90 men and no women or children, it can be assumed that he was being cautious. When he saw there was a party going on, his men then went out and brought back five deer and lots of turkeys. (8)

In addition, both the Wampanoag and the English settlers were long familiar with harvest celebrations. Long before the Europeans set foot on these shores, Native peoples gave thanks every day for all the gifts of life, and held thanksgiving celebrations and giveaways at certain times of the year. The Europeans also had days of thanksgiving, marked by religious services. So the coming together of two peoples to share food and company was not entirely a foreign thing for either. But the visit that by all accounts lasted three days was most likely one of a series of political meetings to discuss and secure a military alliance. Neither side totally trusted the other: The Europeans considered the Wampanoag soulless heathens and instruments of the devil, and the Wampanoag had seen the Europeans steal their seed corn and rob their graves. In any event, neither the Wampanoag nor the Europeans referred to this feast/meeting as “Thanksgiving.” (9)

Myth #8: The Pilgrims provided the food for their Indian friends.

Fact: It is known that when Massasoit showed up with 90 men and saw there was a party going on, they then went out and brought back five deer and lots of turkeys. Though the details of this event have become clouded in secular mythology, judging by the inability of the settlers to provide for themselves at this time and Edward Winslow’s letter of 1622 (10), it is most likely that Massasoit and his people provided most of the food for this “historic” meal. (11)

Myth #9: The Pilgrims and Indians feasted on turkey, potatoes, berries, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and popcorn.

Fact: Both written and oral evidence show that what was actually consumed at the harvest festival in 1621 included venison (since Massasoit and his people brought five deer), wild fowl, and quite possibly nasaump—dried corn pounded and boiled into a thick porridge, and pompion—cooked, mashed pumpkin. Among the other food that would have been available, fresh fruits such as plums, grapes, berries and melons would have been out of season. It would have been too cold to dig for clams or fish for eels or small fish. There were no boats to fish for lobsters in rough water that was about 60 fathoms deep. There was not enough of the barley crop to make a batch of beer, nor was there a wheat crop. Potatoes and sweet potatoes didn’t get from the south up to New England until the 18th century, nor did sweet corn. Cranberries would have been too tart to eat without sugar to sweeten them, and that’s probably why they wouldn’t have had pumpkin pie, either. Since the corn of the time could not be successfully popped, there was no popcorn. (12)

Myth #10: The Pilgrims and Indians became great friends.

Fact: A mere generation later, the balance of power had shifted so enormously and the theft of land by the European settlers had become so egregious that the Wampanoag were forced into battle. In 1637, English soldiers massacred some 700 Pequot men, women and children at Mystic Fort, burning many of them alive in their homes and shooting those who fled. The colony of Connecticut and Massachusetts Bay Colony observed a day of thanksgiving commemorating the massacre. By 1675, there were some 50,000 colonists in the place they had named “New England.” That year, Metacom, a son of Massasoit, one of the first whose generosity had saved the lives of the starving settlers, led a rebellion against them. By the end of the conflict known as “King Philip’s War,” most of the Indian peoples of the Northeast region had been either completely wiped out, sold into slavery, or had fled for safety into Canada. Shortly after Metacom’s death, Plimoth Colony declared a day of thanksgiving for the English victory over the Indians. (13)

Myth #11: Thanksgiving is a happy time.

Fact: For many Indian people, “Thanksgiving” is a time of mourning, of remembering how a gift of generosity was rewarded by theft of land and seed corn, extermination of many from disease and gun, and near total destruction of many more from forced assimilation. As currently celebrated in this country, “Thanksgiving” is a bitter reminder of 500 years of betrayal returned for friendship.


Notes
(1) Correspondence with Abenaki scholar Margaret M. Bruchac. See also Plimoth Plantation, “A Key to Historical and Museum Terms,” www.plimoth.org/education/field_trips/ft-terms.htm; “Who Were the Pilgrims?” www.plimoth.org/library/whowere.htm.

(2) See Note 1.

(3) See William Bradford’s Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, p. 19.

(4) Conversation with Douglas Frink, Archaeology Consulting Team, Inc. See also Plimoth Plantation, “The Adventures of Plimoth Rock,” www.plimoth.org/library/plymrock.htm.

(5) See William Bradford’s Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, p. 28.

(6) See “The Saints Come Sailing In,” in Dorothy W. Davids and Ruth A. Gudinas, “Thanksgiving: A New Perspective (and its Implications in the Classroom)” in Thanksgiving: A Native Perspective, pp. 70-71.

(7) Correspondence with Margaret M. Bruchac about the relationship Samoset, Tisquantum, Hobbamock, and Massasoit. See also Margaret M. Bruchac and Catherine O’Neill Grace, 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving.

(8) See Margaret M. Bruchac and Catherine O’Neill Grace, ibid.

(9) For a description of how the European settlers regarded the Wampanoag, as well as evidence of their theft of seed corn and funerary objects, see Mourt’s Relation. See also Margaret M. Bruchac and Catherine O’Neill Grace, ibid.

(10) See Edward Winslow, Good Newes from New England: A True Relation of Things Very Remarkable at the Plantation of Plimoth in New England.

(11) See Duane Champagne, Native America: Portrait of the Peoples. Detroit: Visible Ink (1994), pp. 81-82; and Chuck Larsen, op. cit., p. 51.

(12) See Plimoth Plantation, “No Popcorn!,” www.plimoth.org/library/thanksgiving/nopopc.htm, and “A First Thanksgiving Dinner for Today,” www.plimoth.org/library/thanksgiving/afirst.htm. See also Margaret M. Bruchac and Catherine O’Neill Grace, op. cit.

(13) See “King Philip Cries Out for Revenge,” pp. 43-45; and “There Are Many Thanksgiving Stories to Tell,” pp. 49-52, in Thanksgiving: A Native Perspective. See also Margaret M. Bruchac and Catherine O’Neill Grace, op. cit.


Copyright © 2003 by Oyate.

NATIONAL DISGRACE

Deporting widows of Americans.  Including women whose husbands have died fighting for our country.  

WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE DO THIS?

Watch CBS Videos Online

Posted by Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 12:29 pm

November 3rd, 2008

Immigrant Community a Boon to Nebraska

Marisa Trevino at Latina Lista wrote earlier this month on a new report out of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, entitled “Nebraska’s Immigrant Population: Economic and Fiscal Impacts.” And whaddya know, it has similar findings to countless similar reports: it finds that immigrants, far from being fiscal drain on social services, pump millions of dollars into local economies and increase the number of jobs. Marisa writes:

Looking at 2006 data, the researchers found that immigrant spending in the state resulted in an estimated $1.6 billion output to the Nebraska economy. The spending generated between 11,000 and 12,000 jobs in the state.

Immigrants in Nebraska significantly contribute to the state’s labor force with immigrants comprising 80.4 percent in meat processing — the state’s single largest industry and driving force for much of the state’s economy.

These are the indisputable facts. What the researchers uncovered about how much immigrants actually take away from state coffers will be the real source of contention and dispute.

According to the report, the immigrant population contributed in 2006 about $154 million in the form of property, income, sales and gas tax revenue. Their costs to the government from food stamps, public assistance, health and educational expenses totaled $144.78 million.

In other words, the researchers found that the state’s immigrants pay in about 7 percent more than what they use in government support. Also, if immigrants were removed from the state’s labor force in key industries like meat processing or construction, the state’s production would lose $13.5 billion.

Just the facts, everyone. More analysis here too as well.

e-verify ENCOURAGING ABUSE OF WORKERS

http://wm.nmmstream.net/genasx/jwj/nomatchfinal090308hhwmv54953.asx

ICE protecting us from dangerous aliens

Carolina’s Story: Pre-School Criminal?

Carolina is a five-year-old girl from Honduras. When she was an infant, Carolina’s mother tried to cross with her into the United States, and both were caught and ordered deported. Several years after this initial deportation, Carolina’s mother attempted once again to join her husband in the United States. This time Carolina and her mother crossed the border separately— Carolina by bridge with a false guardian and her mother by river—a common strategy for parents of young children, who wish to protect them from drowning. Both she and her mother were apprehended in the United States and detained separately.

U.S. Immigration authorities realized that Carolina had been ordered removed in the past—as an infant. Immigration agents consider this previous order of removal to mean that Carolina is ineligible to petition for legal immigration status or release to family in the United States. Carolina was placed with the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Unaware of Carolina’s previous order of removal, they reunified the child with her family in the United States.

ICE agents referred to the incident as a “breach of national security.” Given her age and circumstances, however, Carolina was clearly unable to have willingly violated U.S. administrative code in either instance of her entering the country. To hold Carolina accountable
for immigration violations is either inconsistent with the U.S. application of the principle of mens rea, or a violation of the concept that children should not be punished for the crimes of their parents.

winner and still champion

laptop ordered on Tuesday, UPS tracking shows scheduled for delivery on Thursday, $20 cheaper but 1 gig more memory than the New Egg version, and $1.99 delivery.  

Yeah, that's the way to do it. 

customer servicing?

Any farmer knows what "servicing" means.  It's what the bull does when you take him out to the cow pasture.  

I do ALL of my shopping online.  I don't go to stores for anything except as company for someone else who's shopping.  All in all, online shopping has been a great experience.  

Until New Egg.  

I bought a laptop from New Egg last week.  At least I tried to.  Placed the order on Wednesday.  They charged my bank account the same day, so things appeared to be moving along quite nicely.   

By Thursday when I still had not recieved the confirming e-mail, I called them to inquire.  They said things were all okay, and that I would be recieving   an e-mail "soon."  I did.  

On Friday, I checked on the New Egg site and saw that the order was still not marked "shipped."  I called again.  Twice.  Having paid an extra $35.00 for next-day shipping, I wanted to make sure I was going to get this thing fast [and having also already made arrangements for the old computer to be sent to its new home, I didn't want to be computer-less!].  I was told that they hadn't yet recieved verification from the warehouse but that the computer would definitely be here by Monday, Tuesday the latest.  I balked at the Tuesday delivery, that being nearly a week after I ordered the item and the fact that it cost an extra $35.oo for "quick" shipping, and informed the representative that I wanted my $35.00 back.  He assured me that he was taking care of that right away, and that he would send an e-mail as soon as possible confirming the shipment of the order and the refund of the shipping charges.  Wonderful.  

Today, Tuesday, still no e-mail.  So I checked the New Egg site, and find that the entire order has been CANCELLED.  

Oy.  

Another phone call to New Egg, and now I'm told that the item is no longer available, and that's why they cancelled my order.  

Without notifying me in any way.  [At this point they had not only my e-mail address but my telephone number, but they didn't feel the need to contact me about the order cancellation.]  

So, how soon you do think I'll be ordering again from New Egg?  

o - if only!

New York Times Special Edition Video News Release - Nov. 12, 2008 from H Schweppes on Vimeo.
http://www.nytimes-se.com/

get moving

November 5. 2008 from Tarek Milleron on Vimeo.

uhm....ISN'T THIS CALLED TERRORISM???

Report: Bush Authorized US Attacks Anywhere in the World

The New York Times has revealed the US military has waged nearly a dozen secret attacks inside Syria, Pakistan and other countries since 2004. The assaults were approved under a classified order signed by then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and authorized by President Bush. The order authorizes US military attacks anywhere in the world if they can be linked to targeting al-Qaeda. Last month’s US attack inside Syria appears to be the latest known instance under the policy. Syria says eight civilians were killed. The attacks have often been carried out in collaboration with the CIA.

Democracy Now! 11/10/08

SIT. SPEAK.

FIRST WORDS

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in
the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation's next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House. And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics - you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington - it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.

I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of
Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.

And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends...though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright -
tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved.

Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.