Translator in Bali, rudyanto@deacons.com

Suppose you wish to make a remittance to my account in Indonesia, you should know the swift code of the destination bank, in this instance , BCA , namely CENAIDJA , BANK CODE 014, acc no :  6130098876, Rudyanto Judomiharjo.

Let’s consider the elaboration of this Bank SWIFT.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (”SWIFT”) and commonly called Bank Identifier Code (BIC) operates a worldwide financial messaging network which exchanges messages between banks and other financial institutions. SWIFT also markets software and services to financial institutions, much of it for use on the SWIFTNet Network, and ISO 9362 bank identifier codes (BICs) are popularly known as “SWIFT codes”.

The majority of international interbank messages use the SWIFT network. As of November 2008^[update], SWIFT linked 8,740 financial institutions in 209 countries.^[1] SWIFT transports financial messages in a highly secure way, but does not hold accounts for its members and does not perform any form of clearing or settlement.

SWIFT does not facilitate funds transfer. Financial institutions would need a corresponding banking relationship for financial transactions.^{[clarification needed]} Not all financial institutions have banking business relationships, but rather peripheral. Each financial institution, to exchange banking transactions, must have a banking relationship by either being a bank or affiliating itself with one (or more) so as to enjoy those particular business features.

SWIFT is a cooperative society under Belgian law and it is owned by its member financial institutions. SWIFT has offices around the world. SWIFT headquarters are located in La Hulpe, Belgium, near Brussels. An average of 2.4 million messages, with aggregate value of $2 trillion, were processed by SWIFT per day in 1995.

It was founded in Brussels in 1973, supported by 239 banks in 15 countries. It started to establish common standards for financial transactions and a shared data processing system and worldwide communications network. Fundamental operating procedures, rules for liability etc., were established in 1975 and the first message was sent in 1977.

The swift code of banks in Indonesia

• ABN AMRO Bank: ABNAIDJA
• Hagabank: HAGAIDJA
• Bank Artha Graha: ARTGIDJA
• Bank Bumiputera Indonesia: BUMIIDJA
• Bank Bumi Arta Indonesia: BBAIIDJA
• Bank Buana Indonesia: BBIJIDJA
• Bank Danamon: BDINIDJA
• Bank Mandiri (not Bank Syariah Mandiri): BEIIIDJA
• Bangkok Bank: BKKBIDJA
• Bank Niaga: BNIAIDJA
• Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI): BNINIDJA
• Bank BNP Paribas Indonesia: BNPAIDJA
• Bank Resona Perdania: BPIAIDJA
• Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI): BRINIDJA
• Bank Bukopin: BBUKIDJA
• Bank Central Asia (BCA): CENAIDJA
• Deutsche Bank AG: DEUTIDJA
• Bank Mizuho Indonesia: MHCCIDJA
• Hongkong and Shanghai Banking (HSBC): HSBCIDJA
• Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII): IBBKIDJA
• Bank Indonesia: INDOIDJA
• Lippobank: LIPBIDJA
• Bank NISP: NISPIDJA
• Pan Indonesia Bank: PINBIDJA
• Bank Rabobank International Indonesia: RABOIDJA
• Bank UFJ Indonesia (formerly Bank Sanwa Indonesia): SAINIDJA
• Bank Swadesi: SWBAIDJA
• Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN): BTANIDJA
• Bank UOB Indonesia: UOBBIDJA
• Bank Permata: BBBAIDJA
• Bank Maybank Indocorp: MBBEIDJA
• Bank Chinatrust Indonesia: CTCBIDJA
• Woori Bank Indonesia: HVBKIDJA
• Bank Sumitomo Mitsui Indonesia: SUNIIDJA
• Bank Finconesia: FINBIDJA
• Bank OCBC Indonesia: OCBCIDJA
• Bank Kesawan: AWANIDJA
• Bank Commonwealth: BICNIDJA
• Bank Ekonomi Raharja: EKONIDJA
• Bank DBS Indonesia: DBSBIDJA
• Bank CIC International (formerly Bank Century Intervest Corp): CICTIDJA
• Bank Ekspor Indonesia: BEXIIDJA
• Bank Mega: MEGAIDJA
• Bank of China, Jakarta Branch: BKCHIDJA
• Bank Syariah Mandiri (not Bank Mandiri): BSMDIDJA,

Interbank code ? apa gunanya? tentu saja banyak karena kita selalu tidak bisa menghindar dari aktivitas keuangan. Bahkan untuk para blogger sekalipun pasti sangat penting, terutama yang mencari tambahan penghasilan lewat blog. Penghasilan para blogger dari referral ke ziddu misalnya, harus melalui Paypal kan? Nah gimana mau dapet uang kalau ga bisa ditransfer ke rekening bank kita. Untuk mentrasfer duit di Paypal ke rekening bank kita, salah satu persyaratannya adalah dengan memasukkan kode bank.

Dibawah ini adalah daftar kode bank yang ada di Indonesia yang semuanya sebanyak tiga digit. Tapi masalahnya Paypal meminta kode sebanyak tujuh digit, Lalu bagaimana?

Jangan kuatir, karena empat digit/angka kekurangannya tinggal diisi kode kantor cabang. Untuk itu silahkan menanyakan pada kantor bank tempat Anda mendaftar. Kode-kode bank ini juga diperlukan untuk transfer antar bank via kartu ATM (pernah kan?

Nah inilah Daftar Kode-Kode Bank itu:

Perlu Diperhatikan: Khusus untuk BCA, kode cabang biasanya adalah empat angka pertama dari nomor rekening bank Anda. Contoh, jika nomor account BCA anda 6130098876, maka yang perlu diisi di formulir Paypal adalah 014 (kode bank bca) +6130 (kode cabang bca) sehingga menjadi –> 0146130

Rick Warren author of the Purpose Driven Life .He said the prayer during the inaugural ceremony of Barack Obama as US President
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having ‘wealth’ from the book sales. ‘Purpose Driven Life ‘ author and pastor of Saddleback
Church in California
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life?
And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for..
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:
If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.’ But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease..
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do.
That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
If you do not pass it on, nothing will happen. But it will just be nice to pass it on to a friend….just like I have done.
God’s Blessings…

REMARKS OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
WEEKLY ADDRESS
The White House
Saturday, February 7, 2009

Yesterday began with some devastating news with regard to our economic crisis.  But I’m pleased to say it ended on a more positive note.

In the morning, we received yet another round of alarming employment figures – the worst in more than 30 years.  Another 600,000 jobs were lost in January.  We’ve now lost more than 3.6 million jobs since this recession began.

But by the evening, Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands.

In the midst of our greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the American people were hoping that Congress would begin to confront the great challenges we face.  That was, after all, what last November’s election was all about. 

Legislation of such magnitude deserves the scrutiny that it’s received over the last month, and it will receive more in the days to come.  But we can’t afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary.  The scale and scope of this plan is right.  And the time for action is now.

Because if we don’t move swiftly to put this plan in motion, our economic crisis could become a national catastrophe.  Millions of Americans will lose their jobs, their homes, and their health care.  Millions more will have to put their dreams on hold.

Let’s be clear:  We can’t expect relief from the tired old theories that, in eight short years, doubled the national debt, threw our economy into a tailspin, and led us into this mess in the first place.  We can’t rely on a losing formula that offers only tax cuts as the answer to all our problems while ignoring our fundamental economic challenges – the crushing cost of health care or the inadequate state of so many schools; our addiction to foreign oil or our crumbling roads, bridges, and levees.

The American people know that our challenges are great.  They don’t expect Democratic solutions or Republican solutions – they expect American solutions.

From the beginning, this recovery plan has had at its core a simple idea:  Let’s put Americans to work doing the work America needs done.  It will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, all across the country – 16,000 in Maine, nearly 80,000 in Indiana – almost all of them in the private sector, and all of them jobs that help us recover today, and prosper tomorrow.

Jobs that upgrade classrooms and laboratories in 10,000 schools nationwide – at least 485 in Florida alone – and train an army of teachers in math and science.

Jobs that modernize our health care system, not only saving us billions of dollars, but countless lives.

Jobs that construct a smart electric grid, connect every corner of the country to the information superhighway, double our capacity to generate renewable energy, and grow the economy of tomorrow.

Jobs that rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges and levees and dams, so that the tragedies of New Orleans and Minneapolis never happen again.

It includes immediate tax relief for our struggling middle class in places like Ohio, where 4.5 million workers will receive a tax cut of up to $1,000.  It protects health insurance and provides unemployment insurance for those who’ve lost their jobs.  And it helps our states and communities avoid painful tax hikes or layoffs for our teachers, nurses, and first responders.

That’s what is at stake with this plan:  putting Americans back to work, creating transformative economic change, and making a down payment on the American Dream that serves our children and our children’s children for generations to come.

Americans across this country are struggling, and they are watching to see if we’re equal to the task before us.  Let’s show them that we are.  And let’s do whatever it takes to keep the promise of America alive in our time.

Thank you.

Date: Thursday, January 29, 2009, 9:48 AM

Ini penting lho

EFFECTS OF COLD WATER

Please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends you care about.

Serangan Jantung dan kebiasaan Minum Air Panas / hangat….

Artikel ini berguna untuk semua. Bukan saja anjuran meminum air panas selepas makan, tetapi berhubungan dengan SERANGAN JANTUNG!!!!.

Secara logik…, mungkin ada kebenarannya.. Orang-orang China dan Jepang mengamalkan minum teh panas sewaktu makan… dan bukannya air ES. Mungkin sudah tiba masanya kita meniru kebiasaan minum air panas / hangat

sewaktu menikmati hidangan!!!!

Kita tidak akan kehilangan apa-apa… malah
akan mendapat faedah dari kebiasaan ini.

Kepada siapa yang suka minum air ES, artikel ini sesuai untuk anda baca. Memang enak dan segar minum air ES selepas makan, tetapi akan berakibat fatal !!

Walaubagaimanapun, Air ES akan membekukan makanan berminyak
yang baru kita makan. Ia akan melambatkan proses pencernaan kita.

Bila lemak-lemak ini terbentuk di dalam usus, ia akan menyempitkan banyak saluran dan lama kelamaan ia akan menyebabkan lemak berkumpul dan kita semakin gemuk dan menuju ke arah mendapat berbagai PENYAKIT.

Jalan terbaik…adalah untuk minum sup panas atau air PANAS/hangat selepas makan.

:Nota penting tentang SERANGAN JANTUNG!!!

Anda perlu tahu bahwa tanda-tanda serangan jantung akan mulai terasa pada tangan sebelah kiri.

Berhati-hati juga pada permulaan sakit sedikit-sedikit pada bagian atas dada anda.

Anda mungkin tidak akan mengalami sakit dada pada
serangan pertama serangan jantung.

Keletihan dan berkeringat adalah tanda-tanda pada umumnya. Malah 60% pengidap SAKIT JANTUNG tidak bangun selepas tidur.

Marilah kita berwaspada dan berhati-hati.
Lebih banyak kita tahu, lebih cerah peluang kita untuk terus hidup…

PAKAR SAKIT JANTUNG berkata, jika semua orang yang mendapat e-mail ini menghantar kepada 10 orang yang lain, beliau yakin akan dapat menyelamatkan satu nyawa.

Baca ini…. ia juga mungkin dapat menyelamatkan nyawa anda!!!!.

**Jadilah teman yang setia dan teruskan menghantar artikel ini kepada teman-teman yang anda sayangi…..!!!!

THE PRESIDENT: All right. Everybody please have a seat. Well, this is a wonderful day. (Applause.) First of all, it is fitting that the very first bill that I sign — the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act — (applause) — that it is upholding one of this nation’s founding principles: that we are all created equal, and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness.

It’s also fitting that we’re joined today by the woman after whom this bill is named — someone who Michelle and I have had the privilege to get to know ourselves. And it is fitting that we are joined this morning by the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. (Applause.) It’s appropriate that this is the first bill we do together. We could not have done it without her. Madam Speaker, thank you for your extraordinary work. And to all the sponsors and members of Congress and leadership who helped to make this day possible.

Lilly Ledbetter did not set out to be a trailblazer or a household name. She was just a good hard worker who did her job — and she did it well — for nearly two decades before discovering that for years, she was paid less than her male colleagues for doing the very same work. Over the course of her career, she lost more than $200,000 in salary, and even more in pension and Social Security benefits — losses that she still feels today.

Now, Lilly could have accepted her lot and moved on. She could have decided that it wasn’t worth the hassle and the harassment that would inevitably come with speaking up for what she deserved. But instead, she decided that there was a principle at stake, something worth fighting for. So she set out on a journey that would take more than ten years, take her all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States, and lead to this day and this bill which will help others get the justice that she was denied.

Because while this bill bears her name, Lilly knows that this story isn’t just about her. It’s the story of women across this country still earning just 78 cents for every dollar men earn — women of color even less — which means that today, in the year 2009, countless women are still losing thousands of dollars in salary, income and retirement savings over the course of a lifetime.

Equal pay is by no means just a women’s issue — it’s a family issue. It’s about parents who find themselves with less money for tuition and child care; couples who wind up with less to retire on; households where one breadwinner is paid less than she deserves; that’s the difference between affording the mortgage — or not; between keeping the heat on, or paying the doctor bills — or not. And in this economy, when so many folks are already working harder for less and struggling to get by, the last thing they can afford is losing part of each month’s paycheck to simple and plain discrimination.

So signing this bill today is to send a clear message: that making our economy work means making sure it works for everybody; that there are no second-class citizens in our workplaces; and that it’s not just unfair and illegal, it’s bad for business to pay somebody less because of their gender or their age or their race or their ethnicity, religion or disability; and that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory, or footnote in a casebook. It’s about how our laws affect the daily lives and the daily realities of people: their ability to make a living and care for their families and achieve their goals.

Ultimately, equal pay isn’t just an economic issue for millions of Americans and their families, it’s a question of who we are — and whether we’re truly living up to our fundamental ideals; whether we’ll do our part, as generations before us, to ensure those words put on paper some 200 years ago really mean something — to breathe new life into them with a more enlightened understanding that is appropriate for our time.

That is what Lilly Ledbetter challenged us to do. And today, I sign this bill not just in her honor, but in the honor of those who came before — women like my grandmother, who worked in a bank all her life, and even after she hit that glass ceiling, kept getting up and giving her best every day, without complaint, because she wanted something better for me and my sister.

And I sign this bill for my daughters, and all those who will come after us, because I want them to grow up in a nation that values their contributions, where there are no limits to their dreams and they have opportunities their mothers and grandmothers never could have imagined.

In the end, that’s why Lilly stayed the course. She knew it was too late for her — that this bill wouldn’t undo the years of injustice she faced or restore the earnings she was denied. But this grandmother from Alabama kept on fighting, because she was thinking about the next generation. It’s what we’ve always done in America — set our sights high for ourselves, but even higher for our children and our grandchildren.

And now it’s up to us to continue this work. This bill is an important step — a simple fix to ensure fundamental fairness for American workers — and I want to thank this remarkable and bipartisan group of legislators who worked so hard to get it passed. And I want to thank all the advocates who are in the audience who worked so hard to get it passed. This is only the beginning. I know that if we stay focused, as Lilly did — and keep standing for what’s right, as Lilly did — we will close that pay gap and we will make sure that our daughters have the same rights, the same chances, and the same freedoms to pursue their dreams as our sons.

So thank you, Lilly Ledbetter. (Applause.)

(The bill is signed.) (Applause.)

MRS. OBAMA: So thank you for joining us today for this important event, and welcome to the White House. (Applause.) As I told guests, feel free, walk around, touch some stuff. (Laughter.) Just don’t break anything. (Laughter.) It’s what I try to tell my kids. (Laughter.)

I had the opportunity to meet Lilly during the campaign and to hear her story. First of all, she is one of my favorite people in the whole wide world. Anyone who meets Lilly can’t help but be impressed by her commitment, her dedication, her focus. She knew unfairness when she saw it, and was willing to do something about it because it was the right thing to do — plain and simple.

In traveling across the country over the past two years, Lilly’s story and the broader issue of equal pay was a concern voiced over and over and over again. It was a top and critical priority for women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds — older women, younger women, women with disabilities, and their families. This legislation is an important step forward, particularly at a time when so many families are facing economic insecurity and instability. It’s also one cornerstone of a broader commitment to address the needs of working women who are looking to us to not only ensure that they’re treated fairly, but also to ensure that there are policies in place that help women and men balance their work and family obligations without putting their jobs or their economic stability at risk.

And it is my honor to introduce this extraordinary woman whose hard work has brought us here today for this very special occasion, and who has been an inspiration to women and men all across this country. Ladies and gentlemen, Lilly Ledbetter. (Applause.)

MRS. LEDBETTER: Thank you. And thank you, Mrs. Obama.

I fell in love with those people campaigning with them. I have to tell you that. And that’s not on my prepared speech — (laughter) — but I have to tell you I love she and the President. And I just believe in them and their work so very much.

But thank you very much. Words cannot begin to describe how honored and humbled I feel today. When I filed my claim against Goodyear with the EEOC 10 years ago, never — never — did I imagine the path that it would lead me down. I have spent the past two years since the Supreme Court’s decision in my case fighting for equal pay for this day. But to watch you sign a bill that bears my name, the bill that will help women and others fight pay discrimination in the workplace, is truly overwhelming.

Goodyear will never have to pay me what it cheated me out of. In fact, I will never see a cent from my case. But with the passage and President’s signature today, I have an even richer reward. (Applause.) I know that my daughter and granddaughters, and your daughters and your granddaughters, will have a better deal. That’s what makes this fight worth fighting. That’s what made this fight one we had to win. And now with this win we will make a big difference in the real world.

On behalf of all the women in this country who will once again be able to fight pay discrimination, thank you. Thank you to all the senators and House members who fought for and supported this bill. Thank you to the many organizations and broad coalition that worked tirelessly for its passage. And thank you to the countless women around the country who rallied behind this legislation. It would never have happened without you.

With this bill in place, we now can move forward to where we all hope to be — improving the law, not just restoring it. President Obama, I want him to know that we’re very grateful for his support. And you can count on my continued commitment to fighting to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act — (applause) — and to make sure that women have equal pay for equal work, because that’s what this country is all about.

And thank you very much. (Applause.)

Following are excerpts from John McCain’s concession speech in Phoenix, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions and transmitted by The Associated Press:

Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.

My friends, we have - 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.

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I’ve always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too.

But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.

America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.

Let there be no reason now - let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.

Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her Creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.

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.

I urge all Americans - I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

It is natural. It’s natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again.

We fought - we fought as hard as we could. And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.

I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends.

The road was a difficult one from the outset, but your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.

I’m especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother - my dear mother and all my family, and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign.

I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I’ve ever seen and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength.

This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.

In front of tens of thousands of cheering supporters, Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech one hour after it became clear he’d be the next President of the United States of America.

Here are excerpts from the speech delivered at Grant Park in Chicago.

On the significance of his election:
“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 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 will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to you.”

Echoes of the 2004 speech that made him a household name:
“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.”

On John McCain:
“I just received an extraordinarily 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.”

On his family:
“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.”

On the future:
“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.”

On bipartisanship:
“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.”

On the genius of America:
“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.”

On the moment:
“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.”

By ADAM NAGOURNEY

Published: November 4, 2008

Elisabeth Bumiller contributed reporting from Phoenix, Marjorie Connelly from New York and Jeff Zeleny from Chicago.

Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive.

The election of Mr. Obama amounted to a national catharsis — a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country.

But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation’s fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago.

Mr. Obama, 47, a first-term senator from Illinois, defeated Senator John McCain of Arizona, 72, a former prisoner of war who was making his second bid for the presidency.

To the very end, Mr. McCain’s campaign was eclipsed by an opponent who was nothing short of a phenomenon, drawing huge crowds epitomized by the tens of thousands of people who turned out to hear Mr. Obama’s victory speech in Grant Park in Chicago.

Mr. McCain also fought the headwinds of a relentlessly hostile political environment, weighted down with the baggage left to him by President Bush and an economic collapse that took place in the middle of the general election campaign.

“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,” said Mr. Obama, standing before a huge wooden lectern with a row of American flags at his back, casting his eyes to a crowd that stretched far into the Chicago night.

“It’s been a long time coming,” the president-elect added, “but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America.”

Mr. McCain delivered his concession speech under clear skies on the lush lawn of the Arizona Biltmore, in Phoenix, where he and his wife had held their wedding reception. The crowd reacted with scattered boos as he offered his congratulations to Mr. Obama and saluted the historical significance of the moment.

“This is a historic election, and I recognize the significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight,” Mr. McCain said, adding, “We both realize that we have come a long way from the injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation.”

Not only did Mr. Obama capture the presidency, but he led his party to sharp gains in Congress. This puts Democrats in control of the House, the Senate and the White House for the first time since 1995, when Bill Clinton was in office.

The day shimmered with history as voters began lining up before dawn, hours before polls opened, to take part in the culmination of a campaign that over the course of two years commanded an extraordinary amount of attention from the American public.

As the returns became known, and Mr. Obama passed milestone after milestone —Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa and New Mexico — people rolled spontaneously into the streets to celebrate what many described, with perhaps overstated if understandable exhilaration, a new era in a country where just 143 years ago, Mr. Obama, as a black man, could have been owned as a slave.

For Republicans, especially the conservatives who have dominated the party for nearly three decades, the night represented a bitter setback and left them contemplating where they now stand in American politics.

Mr. Obama and his expanded Democratic majority on Capitol Hill now face the task of governing the country through a difficult period: the likelihood of a deep and prolonged recession, and two wars. He took note of those circumstances in a speech that was notable for its sobriety and its absence of the triumphalism that he might understandably have displayed on a night when he won an Electoral College landslide.

“The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep,” said Mr. Obama, his audience hushed and attentive, with some, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, wiping tears from their eyes. “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.” The roster of defeated Republicans included some notable party moderates, like Senator John E. Sununu of New Hampshire and Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, and signaled that the Republican conference convening early next year in Washington will be not only smaller but more conservative.

Mr. Obama will come into office after an election in which he laid out a number of clear promises: to cut taxes for most Americans, to get the United States out of Iraq in a fast and orderly fashion, and to expand health care.

In a recognition of the difficult transition he faces, given the economic crisis, Mr. Obama is expected to begin filling White House jobs as early as this week.

Mr. Obama defeated Mr. McCain in Ohio, a central battleground in American politics, despite a huge effort that brought Mr. McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, back there repeatedly. Mr. Obama had lost the state decisively to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in the Democratic primary.

Mr. McCain failed to take from Mr. Obama the two Democratic states that were at the top of his target list: New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Mr. Obama also held on to Minnesota, the state that played host to the convention that nominated Mr. McCain; Wisconsin; and Michigan, a state Mr. McCain once had in his sights.

The apparent breadth of Mr. Obama’s sweep left Republicans sobered, and his showing in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania stood out because officials in both parties had said that his struggles there in the primary campaign reflected the resistance of blue-collar voters to supporting a black candidate.

“I always thought there was a potential prejudice factor in the state,” Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat of Pennsylvania who was an early Obama supporter, told reporters in Chicago. “I hope this means we washed that away.”

Mr. McCain called Mr. Obama at 10 p.m., Central time, to offer his congratulations. In the call, Mr. Obama said he was eager to sit down and talk; in his concession speech, Mr. McCain said he was ready to help Mr. Obama work through difficult times.

“I need your help,” Mr. Obama told his rival, according to an Obama adviser, Robert Gibbs. “You’re a leader on so many important issues.”

Mr. Bush called Mr. Obama shortly after 10 p.m. to congratulate him on his victory.

“I promise to make this a smooth transition,” the president said to Mr. Obama, according to a transcript provided by the White House .“You are about to go on one of the great journeys of life. Congratulations, and go enjoy yourself.”

For most Americans, the news of Mr. Obama’s election came at 11 p.m., Eastern time, when the networks, waiting for the close of polls in California, declared him the victor. A roar sounded from the 125,000 people gathered in Hutchison Field in Grant Park at the moment that they learned Mr. Obama had been projected the winner.

The scene in Phoenix was decidedly more sour. At several points, Mr. McCain, unsmiling, had to motion his crowd to quiet down — he held out both hands, palms down — when they responded to his words of tribute to Mr. Obama with boos.

Mr. Obama, who watched Mr. McCain’s speech from his hotel room in Chicago, offered a hand to voters who had not supported him in this election, when he took the stage 15 minutes later. “To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn,” he said, “I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president, too.”

Initial signs were that Mr. Obama benefited from a huge turnout of voters, but particularly among blacks. That group made up 13 percent of the electorate, according to surveys of people leaving the polls, compared with 11 percent in 2006.

In North Carolina, Republicans said that the huge surge of African-Americans was one of the big factors that led to Senator Elizabeth Dole, a Republican, losing her re-election bid.

Mr. Obama also did strikingly well among Hispanic voters; Mr. McCain did worse among those voters than Mr. Bush did in 2004. That suggests the damage the Republican Party has suffered among those voters over four years in which Republicans have been at the forefront on the effort to crack down on illegal immigrants.

The election ended what by any definition was one of the most remarkable contests in American political history, drawing what was by every appearance unparalleled public interest.

Throughout the day, people lined up at the polls for hours — some showing up before dawn — to cast their votes. Aides to both campaigns said that anecdotal evidence suggested record-high voter turnout.

Reflecting the intensity of the two candidates, Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama took a page from what Mr. Bush did in 2004 and continued to campaign after the polls opened.

Mr. McCain left his home in Arizona after voting early Tuesday to fly to Colorado and New Mexico, two states where Mr. Bush won four years ago but where Mr. Obama waged a spirited battle.

These were symbolically appropriate final campaign stops for Mr. McCain, reflecting the imperative he felt of trying to defend Republican states against a challenge from Mr. Obama.

“Get out there and vote,” Mr. McCain said in Grand Junction, Colo. “I need your help. Volunteer, knock on doors, get your neighbors to the polls, drag them there if you need to.”

By contrast, Mr. Obama flew from his home in Chicago to Indiana, a state that in many ways came to epitomize the audacity of his effort this year. Indiana has not voted for a Democrat since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s landslide victory in 1964, and Mr. Obama made an intense bid for support there. He later returned home to Chicago play basketball, his election-day ritual.

Scamming the faithful

Innocent people have been passing around a web video launched by a political professional and career smear peddler that turns out to be a cynical and manipulative attack on Barack Obama’s reading of the Bible. The trickster’s claims about Barack’s faith are every bit as false as his claims that this amateurish video is really a TV ad.

The Truth About the Video

The video was launched on the scam artist’s website, PHforAmerica.com. He claimed that the ad “will air on TV immediately following the Democratic National Convention,” and he even asks for money to “help this ad air as often as possible in the key swing states.”
But real TV ads are most often produced in short, even lengths — usually 30 seconds or maybe as long as one minute. This supposed “ad” runs 2:09 and is so poorly made that it would never air on TV — and sure enough, it still hasn’t, even now that the Democratic convention has come and gone.

The Truth About Barack

With such a deceptive person behind this video, it’s not surprising that everything he says about Barack is deeply dishonest and wrong, too. The video takes 5 sentences out of a 4,500-word speech Barack gave in 2006 completely out of context to stoke division and hatred.
Far from mocking the Bible or people of faith, Barack’s speech actually celebrates the role of people of faith in public life and offers nuanced thoughts on the intersection of religion and politics. In his daily life, Barack reads his Bible regularly and respects people of all religious traditions and biblical interpretations.

UPDATE, 10/3: At the beginning of October, the scammer behind this deceptive home video announced that he finally got his “ad” on TV — but it turns out it only aired one time, at 2:00 a.m., on a single station in Pittsburgh.

Nothing has changed here. Barack Obama is still celebrating the role of faith in public life, the lies and deception in the video are still insulting and wrong, and the scammer is still untrustworthy. The amateurish clips on his website still feature the same low-quality video and audio that real 527s wouldn’t use — and the ads are also still missing the required legal disclaimer at the end saying who funded them.

The scammer’s announcement sounds realistic at first, but making scams seem plausible is what tricksters like him are known for. In the end, he’s even less credible now than he was when he first started taking people’s money.