Ma Ying-Jeou Biography and Photos

Ma Ying-Jeou Biography and Photos

Ma Ying-jeou, (born July 13, 1950) is the incumbent President of the Republic of China (ROC). He formerly served as Justice Minister from 1993 to 1996, Mayor of Taipei from 1998 to 2006, and Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 2005 to 2007. Ma was elected Mayor of Taipei in 1998 and re-elected in 2002. He was elected Chairman of the Kuomintang by party members on July 16, 2005. He announced his resignation on February 13, 2007, after being indicted by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on charges of misuse of mayoral funds during his tenure as the mayor of Taipei, although the charges were subsequently cleared by the Supreme Court. Ma subsequently won the presidency in the ROC presidential election of 2008. He was sworn into office on May 20, 2008.

Ma Ying-Jeou Biography and Photos

Michael Griffin Biography and Photos

Michael Griffin Biography and Photos

Michael Douglas Griffin (born November 1, 1949 in Aberdeen, Maryland) is an American physicist, aerospace engineer and the former Administrator of NASA, from April 13, 2005 to January 20, 2009. As the chief of America's space agency, Dr. Griffin oversaw such areas as the future of human spaceflight, the fate of the Hubble telescope and NASA's role in understanding climate change. He had previously worked at NASA including as Associate Administrator for Exploration. When he was nominated as NASA chief, Dr. Griffin was working as the head of the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. While he describes himself modestly as "a simple aerospace engineer from a small town," Griffin has held several high-profile political appointments. In 2007, he was named for the TIME 100, the magazine's list of the 100 most influential people.

Dr. Griffin's appointment was associated with a significant shift in the direction of the agency. He began signaling intended changes at his Senate confirmation hearing (see current plans for NASA below).

Michael Griffin Biography and Photos

Tony Blair Biography and Photos

Tony Blair Biography and Photos

Born: 6 May 1953
Birthplace: Edinburgh, Scotland
Best Known As: British prime minister, 1997-2007

Name at birth: Anthony Charles Lynton Blair

Tony Blair became the youngest British prime minister of the 20th century when he took office in 1997. Blair was born in Scotland but spent much of his childhood in Durham, England. He studied law at Oxford and then practiced law until 1983, when he was elected as member of Parliament from Sedgefield. Blair was a member of the Labour Party, which at the time was dominated politically by the Conservative Party of Margaret Thatcher. Blair was soon a rising star of what became known as the "new Labour" movement, with positions more centrist on fiscal affairs and social issues like crime. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1994, and three years later was named prime minister, replacing John Major, when Labour won a Parliamentary majority. Blair was 44, making him the youngest British prime minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812. (Blair was often compared with the sitting U.S. president, Bill Clinton, who was 46 when he took office in 1993.) Blair was re-elected in Parliamentary elections in 2001 and 2005. He stepped down as the prime minister on 27 June 2007 and was succeeded by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown.

Blair's wife Cherie is also a lawyer. She is the daughter of the actor Anthony Booth and a distant relation to John Wilkes Booth, assassin of Abraham Lincoln... Tony and Cherie Blair have four children: Euan (b. 1984), Nicky (b. 1986), Kathryn (b. 1988) and Leo (b. 2000). According to Blair's official biography, Leo "was the first child born to a serving Prime Minister in over 150 years"... As a college student, Blair played in a rock band called Ugly Rumors.

Tony Blair Biography and Photos

Sonia Gandhi Biography and Photos

Tony Blair Photos Pictures

Sonia Gandhi (born December 9, 1946), is an Indian politician and the president of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party). Also, she is currently the chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha. She is the Italian-born widow of Rajiv Gandhi.

Born Sonia Maino in Orbassano (8 km from Turin, Italy), she met Rajiv Gandhi, who later became Prime Minister of India, while he was a student at Cambridge University and she a bar-maid in England. They were married in 1968, after which she took up residence in India. She adopted Indian citizenship in 1983, fifteen years after her marriage to Rajiv, when, it is speculated, she realized that her husband's fortunes as prime minister might be affected by her Italian citizenship. The couple had two children, Rahul Gandhi (born 1970) and Priyanka Gandhi (born 1971).

Gandhi did not enter politics until after her husband's assassination on May 21, 1991. Following his death she was pressured by the Congress Party to enter politics and to continue the party's dynastic tradition of being led by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

In 1998 she formally entered politics, assuming the helm of the Congress Party and declaring herself a candidate for Prime Minister. Largely through her family name, she was able to draw large crowds and nearly single-handedly revitalized the party. However, she remained a somewhat enigmatic figure, and her opposition (chiefly the Bharatiya Janata Party) constantly played off the fact that she was foreign-born and was not a fluent Hindi speaker until she entered politics, frequently asserting that she had no qualifications other than her name.

She rose to become Leader of the Opposition in the 13th Lok Sabha, and in the 2004 election launched an aggressive campaign to unseat the ruling Hindu-Nationalists. She had been tipped to be the next Prime Minister of India following her party's surprise victory in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. On May 16 she was unanimously voted to lead a 19-party coalition government.

However, on May 18, a day before her scheduled inauguration, she addressed a meeting of Congress lawmakers and declined to become Prime Minister. Amid indignant shouts from her supporters, she said "I request you to accept my decision and to recognize that I will not reverse it. ... It is my inner voice, my conscience." Lawmakers surrounded the podium and begged her to reconsider. Later, hundreds massed outside Gandhi's home in New Delhi. Feelings ran so high that a former provincial Congress legislator held a revolver to his head, threatening to commit suicide, before being disarmed ten minutes later. Distraught Congress workers smashed window panes at the party office to express their frustration. Congress leaders also resigned en masse in another attempt to get her to reconsider. Congress sources said Gandhi was tired of the Hindu nationalist campaign against her foreign origins. Some also said that her children asked her to decline, fearful of the assassination threat.

Manmohan Singh was appointed Prime Minister instead, with her support.

Tony Blair Photos Pictures

Lebron James Biography and Photos

Lebron James Biography and Photos

It will be an understatement to say that Lebron James had a difficult childhood. He was born on December 30, 1984, in Akron, Ohio. Lebron’s mother Gloria was sixteen years old at the time and his father Anthony McClelland was an ex-con who deserted the young woman and the child. Gloria single handedly raised Lebron James. Things got more complicated because of Gloria’s boyfriends. One of them called Eddie Jackson who went on to play a pivotal part in the career of Lebron was also an ex-con. But his presence ensured that young Lebron James would not feel the absence of a father.

Lebron James was a natural athlete and took part in football and basketball. It was during his years in school that the most important man came into his life. Frankie Walker was the basketball coach in school. He not only coached Lebron James but also invited him to stay with his family. He wanted to give Lebron James a chance to live a normal life without the specter of violence and drugs hanging over his head. He taught the young Lebron how to shoot with his left hand. By the eighth grade he was six feet tall, could play all five positions and had a sixth sense for the game.

It was time for Lebron James to show off his skills on court. He went to the USA Basketball Development Festival. He was the first underclassman ever invited to the camp. Lebron James’s performance justified the invitation; he broke the festival scoring record. News of his talent began to spread far and wide. While he was a sophomore in high school he led the team to two consecutive championships. After his junior year, Lebron James was offered a nine million dollar contract to play basketball in Italy. Michael Jordan invited him for a workout at his private court with Antoine Walker, Michael Finley, Juwan Howard and Penny Hardaway. Lebron ended forming an enduring bond with Antoine Walker. He had already begun to make covers of basketball magazines. It was only NBA rules that stopped him from joining the 2002 draft.

Lebron James had become one of the best all round basketball players the world had ever seen. He is one of the best passers in the history of the game. Lebron James seems to have the ability to carry a blueprint of the court in his head, his speed and strength are above average. The only weak link in his game is the outside jumper but a couple of years in the NBA and that too will be taken care off.

When the nation is in such a frenzy over an individual, it is not possible that the corporates would be far behind. Nike and Adidas were in a battle royal to sign up Lebron James. Adidas even deployed Kobe Bryant to ensnare Lebron. He was eventually signed up by Nike for close to U.S. $90 million. All this before Lebron joined the NBA. Lebron James was the obvious first pick during the draft, he was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers who dealt Andre Mills in the process. In order to test the hype surrounding him, Cavaliers coach broke NBA rules and invited Lebron James to practice with the team before the NBA draft. Lebron James wowed all his future teammates with his dunks over the heads of seasoned pros such as Jumaine Jones and Chris Mihm. His passes were better than anyone on the regular Cleveland Cavaliers team.

The 6’8 Lebron James plays as a guard on the team. He was selected in the U.S.A. basketball team that eventually won the bronze medal. Lebron James was the youngest male basketball player to play for U.S.A. He won all the Rookie of the month awards in the Eastern Conference. Lebron James is the youngest player in NBA history to capture Rookie of the Year honors. He was embroiled in little bit of controversy when his mother bought him a fully loaded Hummer with a bank loan. He also got into trouble for accepting free basketball jersey’s at a sports shop. Lebron James wears the same number as his idol Michael Jordan – 23. he recently became a father when his girlfriend delivered a baby boy. Lebron has his mom's name, Gloria, tattooed on his biceps. His mom wears a school basketball jersey to games with the words, "Lebron's Mom" on the back.

Lebron James Biography and Photos