Hillary -vs- Obama

Hannity and Colmes recently had an episode saying that it is getting nasty on the campaign trail. Ex-House Speaker Gingrich weighs in on the campaign. Earlier in the stage, Kurk Gingrich believed that Hillary had an 80% chance of winning this election, after some facts that Colmes stated, Gingrich reduced Hillary's chances to about 50%. After watching the episode, it looks that Obama is actually leading the campaign. Kurk Gingrich then states that he is reducing his chances for Hillary not because of Colmes, but because he noticed that she was beginning to fail and had a lot of problems keeping her campaign together.

I actually agree with Gingrich. Maybe Hillary is panicking a little bit. Although, i still think Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States.

Thompson Debut

John Stewart is showing clips of Fred Thompson and saying that he didn't do such a good job in the republicans candidate debate. It was actually a pretty funny episode as he was making fun of Thompson. Not only Stewart, Mitt Romney indulged in the fun also as seen in the clip.

Does Obama have the onions?

Rush Limbaugh says on his December 3rd show, "They're right. The Clintons are famous for dirty campaigns and negative campaigns, but here's the thing, folks. If Barack Obama... Look at what he's just been accused of? He's just been accused of running a slush fund, from the Clintons, by Howard Wolfson! Slush fund? Try multiple slush funds: the legal defense fund, the illegal Chinese campaign contributions back in the nineties, the Chinatown contributions this year, Norman Hsu, and the Clintons call Obama and his PAC a slush fund? I'll tell you if Barack Obama has the onions here, folks, he would stomp Mrs. Clinton on this. She is the last person in the country running a campaign to talk about ethics and money in the same sentence. If he's serious about this, if he and his camp are really serious, they're going to say more than just, "Well, look at this. They're running a negative campaign." They are going to have to turn this around on her and on her husband, and say that this is the height of chutzpah, to be accused of running a slush fund by people who have created it as a work of art and who continue to do so to this day. Campaign slush fund! He's got a golden opportunity here, folks, but it does mean that Mrs. Clinton is in somewhat of a state of panic. A lot of people think that they're a week ahead of everybody in terms of polling data and understanding what's happening, and a lot of people think that she's panicking and coming out with the claws bared at Obama and others because they've got some internal numbers that show her crashing in Iowa and maybe in some other states. It could explain it."

To me this was interesting. He said that the Clintons are known for dirty campaigns. He is talking about running slush funds and that Hillary is in a state of panic. Basically he is saying, if Obama has it in him, he could stop Hilary.

NY Times, Making Piece with Pieces

Op-ed columnist, Thomas L. Friedman, writes about the U.S. peace summit in Annapolis MD.
"That’s right — Iraq and Kuwait, the two Arab countries hosting the most U.S. troops, and the two Arab countries with probably the most active elected Parliaments, were both absent. The Kuwaitis asked not to be invited, and the Iraqis were invited but declined to come."
He is basically describing how it is possible to promote peace, when it looks like no one is willing. He says that the summit was useful, but when two countries that you have saved don't show up, it's a big problem. He says that's what the problem is today, all of these countries are just too divided.

"What we are trying to do in Iraq is unprecedented: we are hosting the first real horizontal dialogue in modern Arab history by the constituents of an Arab country — on the assumption that if Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds could actually write their own social contract, it would mean that something other than top-down, iron-fist politics was possible for this part of the world. It is hugely important — and next to impossible."
He is basically explaining that what we are trying to to in Iraq is impossible. Is this true? Are we risking the lives of our American soldier for an impossible purpose?

These past few years, it has been the story that younger adults and teens have to register to vote and start voting. Facts show that their has been a lack of young voters. A good idea came to mind to have music artists promote voting. And what better channel than to promote this?..obviously MTV.

MTV's new slogan for this coming election is "Choose or Lose". Their website has video clips of each candidate giving speeches. They are trying to inform the young adults about this election and our candidates. I believe they are trying. However, kids are kids. Just because someone is eligible to vote, doesn't mean that they will. Kids this age just want to have fun with their friends and not even think about politics. I know that I never once cared about a presidential election. I voted when i turned 18 because it was just something new that I could do. I felt old enough. After that I lost interest. At least MTV is trying and I do believe it is working. Young adults listen to hip hop and pop artists, so why not try and have them promote voting. It is the right thing to do. Children are the future...right?

Tonight, I watched the 11:00 news on CBS and came across the following stories...
-Ike Turner Dies At 76
-Tropical Storm Olga's Trail Of Destruction
-Midwest Reeling From Powerful Ice Storm
-Bush Vetoes Kids' Health Bill Again
-Congress Vows Action On Vets' Suicides
-Halliburton Under Fire Over Rape Charge
-House Panel Promises CIA Tapes Probe
-Clinton Campaigns With Warren Buffett
-Judge Rejects Automakers' Emissions Suit
-Baseball Steroid Report To Name All-Stars
There was also a piece where Katie Couric interviewed each candidate asking them what country they feared the most.

As you can see, there were only about 2 or 3 political stories. There was the interview with the candidates which took some time. I believe there was enough political news this night. You can't have too much, but again there shouldn't be too little. I think CBS did just fine. Now, was it entertaining? I don't find the news entertaining personally.

Fox News and CNN coverage

The latest stories on the Fox News channel are as follows...
- Search of 4 men accused of extorting ex-lawmaker
- Scientists: Evolution allows pregnant women to stand
- No Transcripts of Destroyed CIA Tapes
- Mitchell Report on Baseball Drug Use Will Name MVPs, All-Stars

The latest stories on CNN are as follows...
- Budget deal would probably give Bush victory on war funding
- President Bush vetoes child health bill again
- Couple face capital murder charges in Baby Grace death
- Friends: Dead teen refused hijab

From what I can tell from watching some parts of each channel, CNN had more about Bush. Fox News channel obviously is biased and hadn't said a single word about President Bush when I had watched it. If the big story has to do with something bad about Bush, CNN will cover it, and Fox News channel will not.

ABC News at 6:30

I watched the news on ABC at 6:30pm on Wednesday, the 13th of December. Tonight's news starts off with all of the local news. Below I will list the local stories in order...

1. New evidence on case of slain dentist.
2. Police in NYC search for a rape suspect.
3. Jews offering holiday greeting were attacked.
4. City lifeguard charged with sexual assault.
5. Four family members were killed in house fire.
6. "Sopranos" creator in court over plot of show.
7. Republicans debate in Iowa.

Next, they went to US and World news. The order is as follows...

1. Mideast peace talk.
2. Explosion kills top Lebanese general.
3. Synchronized car bombs in Iraq kill 27.
4. Toll in Algiers bombing rises to 31.
5. Autopsy: Church gunman killed himself.
6. 2 deadly blasts in Algeria.
7. Ahmadinejad: US intelligence estimate on Iran a 'step forward'.
8. US agrees to improve safety of Chinese food, drug imports.
9. Oprah's star power rises for Obama.
10. Al Gore accepts Nobel Piece Prize.

In my opinion, I have no problem with the way these stories were aired. There is organization and the importance of each story was in its correct order. Local news channels for each city seem to always do things right.

Nine Innings From Ground Zero

The tragedy and horror of the 9/11 attacks triggered a host of changes in America, including a reassessment of the role of sports and its accompanying hero-worship. Batting averages and home run totals were no longer paramount, particularly in New York, but in fall 2001 baseball played a significant role in the city's recovery efforts. Focusing on one of the more eventful and dramatic World Series ever, the documentary looks at two resilient ball clubs - the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks - engaged in an extraordinary professional sporting event, attended each night by more than 50,000 spectators, in New York City one month after the 9/11 terrorist attack. The film compares the games at Yankee Stadium with the recovery effort going on simultaneously nine miles south at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan.

One of the best parts of this show has to do with George W. Bush, believe it or not. This was the President's time to step up and be the leader of our country. We were relying on him in our time of need to do what he had to do to make us comfortable in our country. Who better than to stand on a pitching mound in front of 50,000 people and millions watching and throw out the first pitch right after the attacks? The President of the United States. We needed someone to be brave and have no fear. Someone who could laugh in the face of adversity and show all of us who were watching what this country was all about. That is just what he did. He stood up tall, pumped out his chest and gave a thumbs up to the American people. Not only that, he managed to throw a hard strike right down the middle of the plate. What a sense of comfort and pride after that moment. Just for that one moment in time the people of America were proud; proud to be an American, and proud of our president. Baseball gave all of us a sense of forgetfulness. We forgot what had happened for just a few moments. That's all we needed, just a few moments.
A clip from the HBO Special...

Other than my family and my friends, baseball is the biggest and one of the most important loves of my life. My passion for every aspect of the game is undeniable. I also love this beautiful place we call, The United States of America. As you all know, Baseball is America's favorite past time. In this post, I just wanted to explain how much of an impact that the beautiful game of baseball has lifted so many people up in this time of great tragedy during 9/11, and why it is not just a game in my eyes. I am a big Philadelphia fan and hate the Yankees, but I can easily say that this one point in time, baseball brought our whole nation together to route for the Yankees. We were one.

Television in Politics

Presidents on TV
The other day in one of my classes, we talked about how much television can help a presidential candidate as we watched the first ever televised debate between Kennedy and Nixon in the 50's. We discussed how much of an influence a candidate has on his audience if he looks good in front of a camera. We cam to the conclusion that Kennedy won the audience over because he was suave in front of the camera. Radio listeners believed that Nixon was the better debater. Watching the Video, it did show that Nixon was sitting kind of funny, and his complexion was pail-like because the lack of makeup which was his decision.

In my opinion, yes, television is the absolute biggest influence in a presidential election today. In today's society, it is all about image. The people of this country want a president who can stand up tall in front of millions of people and deliver the perfect speech with a camera right in his or HER face. And why not? Don't we want someone who can laugh in the face of adversity? Whether it is right or wrong, whoever looks best on camera and in front of a microphone will win the election. It is wrong in a sense that people care more about image than what is right for a country, and right in a sense that we the people want someone who look like they could actually lead our nation.

Politics on Facebook?

That's right. Another free website for political campaigns to have a frenzy over. Facebook is the diamond in the rough for these political party leaders. All you do is type in politics where it says "search" and you can get political profiles not only in the U.S., but in the UK too. All the upcoming presidential candidates even have a Facebook page! They are getting to all of us free of charge. Why not? It's an awesome idea.

Facebook is the perfect place for politicians to get to college students because essentially, without college students, Facebook wouldn't exist. These politicians are getting to all of us free of charge. Why not? It's an awesome idea. It keeps us college kids informed and encourages more and more of us to vote, and we all know that there is a lack of young voters out there. So, overall I am pleased that I can get in depth political information by using Facebook.

All the President's Men

Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman star as Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who broke the Watergate story for the paper in the days leading up to the 1972 presidential election. The story chronicles the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporting of Woodward and Bernstein from the former's initial report on the Watergate break-in through the resignations of H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and the revelation of the Nixon tapes by Alexander Butterfield in 1973. It relates the events behind the major stories the duo wrote for the Post, naming some sources who had previously refused to be identified for their initial articles, notably Hugh Sloan. It also gives detailed accounts of Woodward's secret meetings with his source Deep Throat whose identity was kept secret for over 30 years. Only in 2005 was Deep Throat revealed to be former FBI Associate Director W. Mark Felt.

This movie just goes to show you that even the United States government can be this corrupt. People will do absolutely anything, and I mean anything, to have some money in their pocket. Although they are reporters, Woodward and Bernstein showed a lot of passion in getting behind what really happened. It's a shame that it takes newspaper reporters to show some justice in this country. Corruption is a huge thing in this world, money is everything.

America's Next Top Model: agreeing with a classmate

A classmate of mine recently posted a blog about America's Next Top Model and how bad of a show it really is. He asks the question on how this could possibly pass for prime time television and I strongly agree.

In my own opinion, this is an extremely harmful show for a vulnerable girl to watch. These girls are the most unhealthiest girls around. Why would you have a show promoting models when these girls are skinny and they are being called fat? If anything, a girl should watch this show and say to themselves, "Okay, this is exactly what I shouldn't be like." Girls, in a guys point of view, we don't like it when you can see a girl's skeleton.

YouTube: A free political ad for Hilary

This just goes to show you how YouTube is so effective while it is easy to use and free or charge. This video is a clip of a Hilary speech on oil profits. She tells DNC Meetings that she wants to put the oil profits into a strategic fund.

I am blogging about this not because of Hilary's speech, but because of the fact that millions of people have free access to this speech. YouTube is such a unique commodity because not only Hilary Clinton, but any single person in the world can put up a video available for the whole world to see. This is so effective for political campaigns. Why would a candidate waste campaign money for a commercial spot when they can just have one free on YouTube?

Are Jets' Executives Trying to Stop Stadium Harassment? Haha

This blog post is a feminist post describing the stories of sexual harassment at Jet football games. There was once instance against the Pittsburgh Stealers when there were a bunch of men screaming and chanting at some women to show their breasts. One woman looked like she was about to then stopped and walked away so the men got angry and starting spitting and throwing beer everywhere. This blog is stating that something should be done to stop this from happening.

My opinion seems anti-feminist, but I just think it is reality. Most women love attention and always want to be the center of it, especially if they think they are attractive. I am sure that these women that the men were screaming at didn't really mind it, and actually enjoyed it. Why did one woman act like she was about to pull up her shirt? Don't get me wrong, there are women out there who are very classy and actual find this sort of thing offensive, which they should. Reality is that most women like the attention, and most men will give it to them. To say that there should be something done about this harassment at the Jets' games is ridiculous. This sort of thing happens everywhere at every stadium. Overall, yes I do believe that it is a shame that this is what society has come to. Sexual harassment is a big issue and should be noticed, but in this circumstance at a football game of all places, there will be no action taken whatsoever.

Environment: Greenland Ice Melting at Record Pace

I don't really look into environmental issues, but this blog post caught my eye. This post goes to explain that the amount of ice lost in Greenland over the past year is equal to twice as large as Washington D.C.
"The volume of water unleashed by the melting ice raised global sea levels by close to 2 one-hundredths of an inch; were all of Greenland's ice to melt, Steffen predicts, sea levels could be lifted by as much as 21 ft - an unlikely possibility. A 7°F increase since 1991 contributed to another record ice melting year, 10% more than the previous one set in 2005."
Even though there is snowfall which does help, it is no match for the sustaining of glacier melting.



After reading this post it actually made me look into this problem even more. I mean, this abundance of increased sea level over a period of time really can't be good. How long will it be until all the ice melts and there is too much water and erosion? When will the satellite picture of the earth be nothing but blue?

The Huffington Post

Mathew Chapman and Sheril Krishenbaum are eager to find out why the presidential candidates are not focusing on the topic of science and technology. They posted a blog on The Huffington Post to explain their reasoning.

"This is the longest running presidential race in history, and yet no event is scheduled in which the candidates are asked to focus on the two most pressing social issues of our time: science and technology. We are asking the candidates to take time out of their busy schedules for this because nothing could be more important."

They are basically just suggesting that these candidates at least have a debate of science and technology issues and what their future aspirations are. They say that their really are some major problems that need to be faced.

The Science Debate 2008 is brought up by them saying that this issue is already encouraged through this debate team and it is good start for the issue.

"We would like you to go to our website, ScienceDebate2008.com, and register your support for this important idea. But don't stop there. If you belong to a campaign, talk to your candidate and ask him or her to become a part of this. Send an email to the head of your party, Howard Dean, for Democrats, Mike Duncan for Republicans, and tell them you like this idea."

To me, this seems like more of an advertisement for the Science Debate 2008. They say there are science and technology issues that need to be informed but do not give any information on what these problems are in their post.

"The Girls Next Door"

This series focuses on the lives of Hugh Hefner's three girlfriends who live with him at the Playboy Mansion: Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson. Other celebrities sometimes make guest appearances. The series not only showcases events at the Playboy Mansion, but also sheds light on other Playboy related events.

I am a guy so I can't really explain how a girl feels when they watch this show. But, in my opinion, if there is a girl out there that feels intimidated or any less of these of these girls on this show, then there is something wrong. You have three girls who can't live life and wouldn't have been successful without the money of Hugh Hefner. Although these girls are extremely beautiful, they have many many flaws. The only thing a girl can look at and say about these women is, "I wish I looked like that." After watching this show I couldn't believe how stupid these girls actually were. So the question about if this show has a negative impact on the average girl should be answered with the simple answer of no. If anything, a girl should watch this and see how dumb these girls really are.

The New York Times, Dec 5th Paper

In the New York Times, I looked closely at the each story and what order they were in. The first story read, "Bush Insists Iran Remains a Threat Despite Arms Data." The second reads, "A Calmer Iraq: Fragile, and Possibly Fleeting." The third, "Study Shows Why the Flu Likes Winter." The fourth, "For Struggling Black College, Hopes of a Revival." And the last one reads, "Comedian Says Minnesota Run is a Serious One." These are the five big bold stories on the front of the paper, then follows other smalls links to other stories.

In my opinion, these stories are in the correct order, and they are diverse. The first story covers Bush's opinion on Iran which I think is pretty important and people would want to know the most about it. The second story has to do with Iraq, and once I see the word "Iraq" in the newspaper, I personally want to see what it says, so I believe that story is where it needs to be. The next few stories fall away from the politics aspect and focus more on people's curiosity and I don't have a problem with it. It is getting cold, people are getting sick with the Flu, and people want to know why. The next story deals with race and finally the last has to do with Minnesota which you can obviously see the stories get less and less important. Overall, I am quite satisfied with the way the New York Times ordered their stories and made sure the first two big stories had to do with Bush, Iran, and Iraq.