nuage's Blog

Did you know that  10 Minutes Of Staring at Breasts Daily Prolongs Man's Life by 5 Years ?

""Just 10 minutes of looking at the charms of a well-endowed females is equivalent to a 30-minute aerobics work-out," said author Dr. Karen Weatherby, a gerontologist."

How much of a workout would I get from staring at a mans crotch?

""Sexual excitement gets the heart pumping and improves blood circulation. There's no question: Gazing at large breasts makes men healthier. Our study indicates that engaging in this activity a few minutes daily cuts the risk of stroke and heart attack in half." said Weatherby, who even recommends that men aged over 40 should spend at least 10 minutes daily admiring breasts sized "D-cup" or larger. "

My bra size is larger than that and I'm happy to have contributed to cardiac improvement. LOL!

Did you know this? What are your thoughts?

Peace peeps, Thank you for all of the amazing notes! Since I've been on BP in 1999, I love to visit my fellow BP members pages to see what they are up to. Wow! There are so many beautiful people inside and out. I won't be able to answer to all of my notes since the BP system keeps them for 30 days. Just because I vist your page does not mean that I want to hook up with you, get you a Green Card, or sleep with you, or *sigh* have your baby, and lots of them. I will answer the most frequent questions (not in any particular order) I get in my notes:

Q:Where do I live?

A:I live in Gloucester, which is close to Ottawa Canada.

Q: Why are you on Blackplanet?

A: I'm here to promote myself as a poet and as a performance artist.

Q: Nuage, is that you I hear on your page?

A: Yes, it is

Q: Have I seen you on TV before?

A: Yes!

Q: On Which show?

A: On Style Her Famous Click to see me!
 

Q: How can I find your Blackplanet video?

A: By clicking   "here"

Q: Do you have a group on Blackplanet?

A: Yes, its called Ghettostocracy

Q: What is Ghettostocracy?

A: The title of my book which means: Ghetto= poverty stricken urban area+ "Sto"=to be (in Italian, + "Cracy" to rule,to hold sway (in Greek)= as a poet, I have the right to discuss what is going on is all facets of society.

Q: What do I do if I encounter negativity in your group?

A: Report your issues to Blackplanet.com staff and they will handle them with a smile

Q: Do you have an agent?

A: No, but I have a pimp that does not beat me :)

Q: How did you get published?

A: By throwing a tantrum at a festival, it worked, I don't reccomend you try it :) I also self-publish

Q:Why did you visit my page without saying hi?

A: I was too disctracted by the music, some of you have amazing tunes on your BP pages!

Q:Am I married?

A: No, never was

Q: Is my profile picture real?

A: Yes it is.

Q:Can I have your baby?

A: No, not at all

Q: Do I want you  "just " because I visited your page?

A: No, I  but may find you interesting. I'm looking to network  and work with people who share silimlar interests as I .

Q: Is my hair natural?

A: Yes, It is, I always style it differently.

Q: How can you meet me?

A: While I tour, feel free to book me for a performance, lecture, etc...

Q: Where is my next tour?

A:  Australia Dec. 2009, Jan 2009 ,Berkley California Feb 2010

Q: How can I support you?

A: Ideally, I would love to find an investor, a patron, a producer. I also need assistance with bookings and PR, check out my blogs and my posts. I do want to perform at the White House

Q: Where was your fave tour?

A: South Africa

Q: What is your artist name?

A: Oni the Haitian Sensation

Q: How do I contact you if you don't respond to my notes on BP?

A: Via email. mesooni@yahoo.com If you are trying to get married, and have my baby , while trying to get your Green Card, I may not respond.

Wow! I have had 10 birthdays on Blackplanet.com! 10 cakes, ten amazing years and many more to come. Blackplanet has provided me with positive growth in many aspects of my life, my analog friends are jealous of my Blackplanet friends, they say " ugh... you're on Blackplanet again huh...." and I say:"yes, I am" lol! Thank you for the kajillion birthday wishes. I can't read all of my notes I get many of them. Wish list: I need your help to book tours. If you want to continue this conversation, please email me at mesooni@yahoo.com much love, take care. nuage

Dear Blackplanet, I want to know if Cancer has affected your life. I found out that Dr Roxanne Chante was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. In the last decade, I've lost many close friends and relatives to breast cancer. I choose to live my life to the fullest since life is short. The following quotes were culled from this link: http://www.bvnewswire.com/2009/10/30/roxanne-shante-sorry--thankful-breast-cancer/ " In April, a New York Daily News article about how '80s rap music pioneer Roxanne Shante forced her record company to finance her college education (resulting in a degree from Marymount Manhattan College and a Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell University) tugged at the heart-strings of Hip Hop America. Soon after, a firestorm of controversy ensued when an article on Slate.com debunked the inspiring story. "In March, I noticed a lump in my left breast, rather small at the time and didn't really know what I was feeling. So instead of going straight to the doctor's office, I started asking friends their opinion and trying to go by their experiences. It was such a stupid move. Well, I figured I was just getting older. A hysterectomy in my early thirties led me to believe that I would be fine. Another stupid move. I let months go by - five months to be exact. The weight loss of over 40 pounds made me feel like, "Damn, this diet is finally working." But then I remembered I wasn't on a diet. So on a bright, sunny day in August 2009, I walked into Doshi center for a mammogram. I put on the gown and stepped up to the machine. As soon as the technician took my breast in her hand, she asked me how long had I had the lump. It's huge, she said. I made a joke, she giggled, but I was scared and angry that I had waited so long. I was in denial. I even went so far as to ignore the letters sent by the lab that read: "Urgent!!! Please contact us." I had gotten a call from the doctor, "I just received your images at my office and they have been trying to reach you for weeks. As soon as you get back to New York, you come to my office. This is your life." How has Cancer affected your life?

Right after I cooked breakfast for the Mandela's Chief Zwelivelile invited me to Mvezo, which is the birthplace of the the great Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. I loved the fact that everyone was so natural and let their Blackness shine.

We drove from Qunu to Mvezo. The countryside looked like the valley of Kings, the soil was golden, the hills looked like pyramids. "

Thisis me in Mvezo

This is the Madiba 1 Landrover!

Mbashe

On the banks of the Mbashe River is Mvezo, where Mandela was born in 1918. The hut where he was born and in the floor of which his umbilical cord is buried, is still visible with the original foundation stones along with the other hut foundations of the Mandela family. Mvezo is where he spent the first seven years of his life, being raised as a herd-boy, and later, where the ceremony to mark his entry into adulthood took place.  Today, this site includes an open air museum." http://www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org/mandela-biko-woods-trail-details.cfm

This is the Nelson Mandela Memorial in Mvezo

When I got to Mvezo ,Zwelivelile introduced me to City Council and there were crews that came from all over the world to interview him and to find out more about the Mandela's and their legacy.

Mvezo has no electricity, no water. Kids have to walk so far to get to school. Mvezo has sheer beauty. When I was there, I felt at peace.

This is Chief Zwelivelile Mandlasiswe Mandela and  members of the Mvezo City Council. Mandla is the first Chief  of the Thembu Dynasty in 78 years!

German Film Crews interviewing the Chief

Developing Mvezo

Building

Grandfather and Grandson in Mvezo

Children in Mvezo coming hom from school

This is Prince Buza, the Zulu Prince and I in Mvezo,

 As a community developer, I put two projects together that would bring women from the Madiba Clan to North America so they can discuss issues that effect them, as well as a  huuuuge grassrots soccer tournament during FIFA 2010 World Cup.

Right now, I'm busy fundraising!

Before I left Mvezo, I was asked to leave my special oatmeal behind, as well as the recipe!

I need your help to make these projects a reality. If you have any questions you can email me at mesooni@yahoo.com. I get lots of email, and I will respond to you as soon as I can.

I want to thank the Chlamer's Grant for making this experience possible.

Thank you to Zolani, the Zwelivelile, to Yolanda, Zukiswa, Anais, Funeka, Mvezo, thanks to my family for letting me change the world with poetry, THANK YOU Blackplanet!

The dopest, was when I got to go to Blackplanet in New York and meet everyone!

Stay tuned for that story!

Thank you for reading my story.

Much love and thanks !

Sawubona,

Oni the Haitian Sensation

I hope that you enjoyed

Breakfast at the Mandela's South Africa 2009 Part One. The stories from my trip are much longer and exciting when I tell them  in person. I decided to let the photos I took  do the talking!

Shortly after I got back to Johannesburg from the Eastern Cape, I found out that the Mandela's invited me to stay with them in Qunu. I was so thrilled and honoured.

Before I got to the Mandela House, I wondered.... what do I buy for a prince? What kind of gift would a prince love?

I knew he loved Jazz, so my gift was inspired by the music.

I wrote my first Praise Poem for Nelson Mandela's grandson on my flight from Johannesburg to East London. There was so much turbulence on that flight that I thought that we were going to crash.

5 minutes before I met Zwelivelile Mandlasiswe Mandela I was sipping tea  with my fellow  princesses while eating the best Black Forest cake. Mandla is so charming and he  looks  so much  like  his grandfather Nelson
5 minutes before I met him I was taught how to give him the Kings greeting. Which is:

"Haa Zwelvelile" , as you may know, he is the one who has inherited Nelsons legacy and he is the first Chief of the Mzeso Council in 78 years .
I was nervous when he came in his living room to greet us. My big butt got stuck in the couch, (too much cake) I got up promptly and gave him the proper greeting, and Mandla greeted us by saying " Nkosazana" which means, "good evening princesses",and then he hugged me and said "bonjour Oni comment vas-tu?"

My mentor, Imbongi Yesiswe Zolani Mkiva and I ,with Mandlasiswe's gift.

I said" Mandla, j'ai fait beaucoup d'efforts pour m'exprimer en Xhosa, je ne savais pas que tu parlais le francais"  meaning that I spent so much time to learn how to greet him in Xhosa and he greeted me in my first language which is French.  He laughed, we continued a discussion about who we were, and we talked about jazz!

Zwelivelile and I at the Mandela home in Qunu

When Zwelivelile welcomed me to his home, he welcomed me to his prison. He said, Oni, welcome to my prison. Mandla told me that

Mandela's father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, served as chief of the town of Mvezo father was persecuted by the white magistrate and deposed as chief of Mvezo, where Mandela was born, the family took refuge at Qunu. It is the place where the young "Rolihlahla", in colonial tradition, was named Nelson by his teacher on his first day at school.

This is Yolanda Zwelivelile and I at the Mandela House.

Soon after his 1990 release from 27 years in prison, Mandela built a small house on his family plot in Qunu. It is an exact replica of the dwelling where he spent the last years of his incarceration at Cape Town’s Victor Vester prison. He has since built a bigger house, where he stays when visiting his home town.

The house in Qunu is a prison. I  felt  priviledged , happy, haunted, and saddened, and deeply intrigued, to see how the legacy of Nelson Mandela's incarceration affected the lives around him.

My time there was amazing! I got to hang out with the Mandela's!

I got lots of hugs and words of wisdom from the Mandela's. I love them with all of my heart!

Zwelivelile took us out to a restaurant when we were in Qunu. When I proudly ordered a beer called "Peroni", Zwelivelile told me that his grandfather Nelson would love me soooooo muuch because he loved ladies who liked their beer, in his younger days! Haaaaaaaa...

We I did groceries with the Mandela family, I asked if I could cook breakfast for them.

They said no problemo, and I cooked my first meal ever on the continent which was a Haitian-Style oatmeal.I hade two huge pots and everyone loved it.

Zwelivelile adored my poem and his aunt Zukiswa Mandela translated it for me in Xhosa. Aunt Zuki was so amazing and nurturing.

These photos are of me and Zukiswa Mandela working on my poetry in the Mandela house in Qunu

We drove to Port Elizabeth and went to the beach I will only post the PG version of my photos LOL!

This is me Oni the Haitian Sensation at the beach in East London

This is me in front of the Mandela House (Hah.. Oprah was their only other guest)

Goat at the Mandela House (soooo cute)  - it followed us around alll day lol!

Breathtaking East London Beach!

Sak Pase Blackplaneteers? I had the most amazing 7 weeks ever! You have not seen me around BP because I've been traveling a lot. I fell in love with South Africa when I was there for Poetry Africa 2001, and where I met my new mentor, Poet of the Nation "Imbongi Yesiswe" , Nelson Mandela's Poet Laureate, Zolani Mkiva. In 2009, I won one of Canada's most competitive arts awards, the Chalmers Award, to study Praise Poetry with Zolani Mkiva.

This is a photo of "Madiba" Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, and my mentor Zolani Mkiva

I stayed in South Africa for 7 weeks! I flew from Ottawa, to Toronto , to New York, to Johannesburg. This is in East London's Airport

When I got to Johannesburg, I found out that Zolani's father Gwebindlala Mkiva passed away. The day after I arrived to Johannesburg, I flew to East London with Zolani's wife to meet Zolani's Family, and to pay my respects to them in the Eastern Cape. This photo is of East London's surrounding area from a bird's eye view.

His family lives in Bolotwa near Dutywa, in the Eastern Cape.

I arrived in early September and it had not rained in that area since January. The draught was terrible crops were dying and so was the cattle. You could still see sprouts of green despite the arid climate. I told my friends that Ottawa, Canada only had 4 days without rain in July 2009. Global warming really screwed up our respective environments since South Africa should have had more rain.

These  are photos of the Mkiva Monument

This is East London

This is in Bolotwa

This is in MTHATHA (I love saying this name) Ummmthathaaaaaaaaaa......

These are traditional homes called Rondevels

We went ot the Mandela Retirement  Home in Qunu.

From Wiki:

"

Qunu is a small rural village in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, 32 km south-west of Mthatha on the road between Butterworth and Mthatha.

Mvezo on Mbashe River is near where Nelson Mandela was born, and Qunu is where he grew up and later retired after leaving office as South Africa's President in 1999. It is the village to which Nelson Mandela's father relocated after being deposed as Mvezo chief."

In his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela describes Qunu as where he spent the happiest moments of his childhood."

This is the front of Mandela's home

We were invited in and we had refreshments. I was so thrilled since I found out that the only other visitor the Mandela's had over was Oprah Winfrey.

These are my sisters from the Madiba Clan,  at the Mandela house, Zukiswa Mandela, Nelson Mandela's neice (she looks so much like him), and Yolanda Mkiva, we had such  an amazing time

Here is Zuki at the Mandela house in Qunu

Here is Zukiswa and I, Oni the Haitian Sensation

Traditionally, women wear long skirts and head wraps. I wore long dresses or skirts during my stay. In some places, I had to forgo the use of  my make -up and be natural beautiful African, me :)

Right now, I'm in Leadership Ottawa, and we are studying the No Community Left Behind Module. I was away from school for over a month and I brought my homework with me to South Africa.

I nooticed that the infrastructure $$$$ Money$$$$ for the 2010 World Cup did not reach the rural areas, worstly, FIFA used the Mandela name and FIFA has not given back to Nelson Mandela's community.

How revolting!

This is me at the Mandela House in Qunu

This is Yolanda and Albert at  The Universiteit of Johannesburg with my No Community Left Behind textbook

When I left the Eastern Cape to return to Johannesburg.... I had the surprise of a lifetime,

Stay tuned!

Sawubona, and Sak Pase ? I'm pleased to inform Blackplanet.com that I've been awarded a Chalmers Award to learn Praise Poetry with His Royal Heritage, Zolani Mkiva, Poet of the Nation of South Africa. This decision was made by a jury of my peers who carefully reviewed my application in the context of the program criteria. The Chalmers Program is one of the most competitive arts awards in Canada. The Spoken Word came way before the written word. I hail from a long line of royal poets. My duty is to preserve tradition. I'm proud to be representing Canada- Haiti, and Cuba as a cultural ambassador to South Africa in the upcoming weeks. I fell in love with South Africa when I performed in the illustrious Poetry Africa Festival in 2007, which is the biggest literary festival on the continent. This work was made possible by the support of the Ontario Arts Councils Chalmers Professional Development Grant. The Ontario Arts Council is a supporter of this cultural endeavor. I assure you that a significant artistic legacy will be established as a result of the Chalmers Program. Poetically yours, Oni the Haitian Sensation Godmother of Canadian Slam I would love to blog from South Africa for BP!

Hello beautiful people, Welcome to one of Blackplanet.com's original pages from 1999. Blackplanet has reinstated my page. It was down the last few days, I'm so glad to be back. Thank you to Zuribibi for checking up on me- I love you gurl! If you wrote me a note to find out what is wrong, why my page got deleted, I most likely will not see it because my BP inbox has 10000 (ten thousand) notes. No BS The best way of contacting me is at oni@mesooni.com My name is Oni the Haitian Sensation I'm a poet author-public speaker, actress, mom, healer, educator, etc... and I have been on BP for a decade You can book me for perfromances, lectures etc... I would love to meet you- hear from you in person! My new photos seem to be causing a stir, had I known this, I would have revealed a slight amount of cleavage a long time ago to double my page hits on BP. LOL When I first joined BP I decided to reveal my face more than anything on my person to get you all to focus on my mind and on my poetry- well, I'm kind of shy too. The newest photos on my page are from a reality show I've just finished working on. It will air on FOX and on other networks this summer. Since then, I got scouted by a modeling agency in Toronto. I'm looking for a talent agent. I believe that I'm Black and beautiful. I had to over come many challenges and failures to feel this way. I thank the creator every day for my many blessings. Many women my size are vilified by the media. I'm in great physical shape. I kickbox 4 times a week and I play badminton 3 times a week. Being part of a modeling agency should be interesting because I am full figured. I'm 5'8" , my hair is reddish brown, with no relaxer My dress size is 14-16 , my bra size is an F. I was already told that there was not much room for people who look like me, I give those people the finger- lol! I could walk well barefoot, and I HATE HATE HATE wearing high heels. I will only walk on a catwalk with platform shoes with wedges which is why I am barefoot in a ballroom gown in my new photos! I was blessed to get my hair done by Oscar James, who is Tyra Banks' hair stylist and by Mister Jay Manuel, Tyra Banks' make up artist. i also worked with Yamisa, Tyra banks' personal stylist. she picked out my outfits! This is what I missed on my BP when my page was gone- So many networking opportunities have been lost- because there is no way that I will be able to catch up since my BP notes and my BP page logs are kept on BP for a certain amount of days. I hope BP can allow me to keep the notes in my inbox. Here are my BP stats: On feb 5th- 13261 people logged onto my bp page On Feb 6th 5546 people logged onto my bp page Today at a little passed midnight and I almost have 1000 page hits and thousands of new entries in my guestbook I have 92 new notes and close to 10 000 unread notes I have 92 group invites I have 532 new friend invites 3 new gifts and 6 new items on my bulletin board I have so many friends on BP much love to my BP All Stars! I love you Blackplanet--Peace and blessings, nuage aka Oni the Haitian Sensation

This link is culled from: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Technology/Obama+first+foreign+visit+Canada/1164013/story.html I want to interview President Elect Barack Obama when he comes to my town, the capital of Canada, OTTAWA! I want to be a correspondent for Blackplanet! Please help me make it happen! Here are the details: WASHINGTON Barack Obama will make his first foreign trip as president of the United States to Canada restoring a long-standing tradition abandoned eight years ago by George W. Bush. Officials in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office confirmed Obama has accepted an offer to visit Canada "soon" after his Jan. 20 inauguration as America's 44th president. "We have been in close contact with president-elect Obama's transition team," said Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for the prime minister's office. "We can confirm that the president-elect has accepted the prime minister's invitation to visit Canada soon after he is inaugurated. This will be president Obama's first foreign visit." New U.S. presidents, dating to Warren Harding in 1923 and Franklin D. Roosevelt 1933, have typically made Canada their first international visit following their election. But Bush deviated from that historical pattern after his inauguration in 2001, travelling to Mexico to meet with then-president Vicente Fox in a bid to improve ties and strike an immigration deal with America's southern neighbour. The disclosure of Obama's trip to Canada came after word that the president-elect planned to meet this Monday in Washington with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, the first foreign leader he will meet since his election on Nov. 4. Soudas did not announce a date for the Obama visit, or disclose its location or specifics of the agenda. Brooke Anderson, an official in Obama's presidential transition told Canwest News Service she could "confirm that is true." "President-elect Obama looks forward to his visit to Canada. It will be the first foreign visit in his presidency, underscoring the importance of the relationship between the United States and Canada," said Anderson, Obama's chief national security spokesman. It's expected the date of the visit will not be known until after the inauguration. Canada's junior Foreign Affairs minister Peter Kent said the move was great news for Canada. "It's a long tradition and it's a tradition that Canada is very proud of," he told Global News. "With very few exceptions Canada is the first visit made by an American president and our government is proud and delighted that President Obama will follow that tradition." Harper does not plan to attend Obama's inauguration. The Canadian government will be represented by Kent and Jason Kenney, the citizenship and immigration minister. Stephen Clarkson, a political economy professor at the University of Toronto, said Obama's decision to make Canada the first country he visits as U.S. president shows that he wants to work closely with Harper. "This is symbolically, a great move for Canada," said Clarkson, who has been a professor for more than 40 years. "Canada is losing its importance to the world and to the United States in general. This visit will show that the U.S. thinks that 'Canada is important to us'. " Clarkson said the amount of time Obama spends in Canada during his visit will set the schedule for what he and the prime minister will discuss. "There are a number of important issues to talk about. They might have some problems because of their ideological differences. Harper has been extremely close to (President) Bush on foreign policy positions and Kyoto," he said. "It may be important for Harper to listen to what Obama might say. "Either way, I will be expecting many Canadians will be heading to Ottawa to see Obama. Many Canadians will be very happy about this visit," Clarkson added, citing the president-elect's substantial popularity in Canada. The meeting between Harper and Obama is certain to focus heavily on several key topics the war in Afghanistan, climate change and the impact the global recession is having on the North American auto industry and Canada-U.S. bilateral trade. Since the U.S. presidential election, Obama has made clear his immediate foreign policy priority is to beef up the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. It's expected between 20,000 to 30,000 additional U.S. troops will be deployed to Afghanistan over the next year. During the presidential campaign, Obama said he would not ask America's NATO allies to send more troops to Afghanistan until the U.S. first increased the size of its force. But since the election, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates who will remain in that post under Obama hinted the new administration would like to see Canada keep troops in Afghanistan past the current 2011 withdrawal deadline. "The longer we can have Canadian soldiers as our partners, the better it is," Gates said during a trip to Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan last November. Ottawa insists the Afghanistan deadline is firm. Canadian officials say one of Ottawa's first priorities in bilateral relations with Obama is to forge close co-operation on climate change initiatives, part of a broader plan to ward off any potential threat to Canada's energy exports to the U.S. Obama is planning an ambitious climate change agenda focusing on reducing U.S. reliance on foreign oil from sources like the Middle East and Venezuela, and plans billions in spending on developing alternative energy sources. There's been concern in Ottawa, however, over the new U.S. administration's policy toward oil from Alberta an Obama aide referred during the presidential campaign to opposing "dirty oil" from Canada. The Conservative government has signalled a potential Canada-U.S. climate-change pact would protect oilsands exports and include a carbon emissions trading system. The Obama-Harper meeting, more than anything, will be a precious opportunity to put relations between the two men on solid footing after a strained beginning. Obama's campaign was furious last March over the leak of a confidential Canadian diplomatic memo which claimed the Democratic candidate's tough primary campaign talk about unilaterally withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement was little more than political rhetoric. The memo from Canada's Chicago consulate claimed Austan Goolsbee, Obama's chief economic adviser, confided to consul general Georges Rioux that the candidate's anti-NAFTA rhetoric "should not be taken out of context and should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy." Obama's campaign denied the characterization of the conversation, but the controversy hurt Obama politically. He lost the Ohio Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton in part because of a backlash over the incident from labour groups and NAFTA foes. It was also deeply embarrassing to Harper, who was forced to open an inquiry into the leak of the memo and faced accusations his conservative government was trying to sabotage Obama's campaign. Obama and his senior advisers have since said Canada need not worry about any U.S. efforts to tinker with NAFTA, saying their concerns about the agreements environmental and labour standards are aimed at Mexico. Hard feelings may have lingered inside the Obama camp over the episode, however. Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economist who is moving to Washington to serve on the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in August he would hesitate to talk again to Canadian officials. "Top 10 things never to say to the Canadians," Goolsbee told PBS interviewer Charlie Rose. "My wife said 'No. 1 is hello.' So I agreed with my wife." Obama may need to hone up on his knowledge of Canada. During a Democratic presidential debate in August 2007, Obama seemed confused about the nature of Canada's parliamentary democracy. When asked how he would pursue improvements to NAFTA's labour and environmental standards, Obama replied: "I would immediately call the president of Mexico, the president of Canada, to try to amend NAFTA." With a file from Linda Nguyen Copyright (c) Canwest News Service