May 9 2008

Graduation and Interviews

It’s getting close… I will be graduating from Neumont University in less than 6 weeks. However, our graduation ceremony is actually this coming Friday. I’m really excited about having my parents in town, but we’ll see how well our house can hold as many people as are going to be here.

Michael: Will they throw their hats, you think?
Ryan: What?
Michael: A lot of times, at a school, or naval academy, after a rousing speech, the crowd would throw its hats high into the air.
Ryan: You understand nobody’s graduating?

Because graduation is coming up so quickly, I have been working hard on trying to secure a job before I’m out of school. I’ve updated my resume, thrown it online, and am fielding off dozens of calls from company recruiters that scour Monster and Dice daily. We’ll see how this all plays out. I have interviews pretty much all next week, and I’m looking at applying at some companies that are not a part of our Career Week. I’m really hoping that I can find a job somewhere outside of Salt Lake, but if it comes down to it, I won’t be entirely disappointed if I have to settle here for a few years. Also, I bought a suit! Finally.

Of course, now is the perfect time to get sick. I came down with a sinus infection on Sunday, and have been feeling like crap all week. Hopefully I will get over it by next week for interviews and graduation.

On the political front, I was really disappointed when Obama lost Pennsylvania. It wasn’t entirely surprising, though, seeing that Hillary’s campaign spent its entire time in Pennsylvania mudslinging. I’m so sick of these non-issues that keep coming up and dominating the media. I don’t give a fuck about Reverend Wright, or Obama’s bowling score, or the “bitter” comments. I am just waiting til the day in the near future when I wake up and read that Hillary has finally thrown in the towel. She’s been done for awhile, and everyone has been calling for her to drop out of the race for months.

It’s already May. Holy crap where has time gone?

Michael: May your hats fly as high as your dreams.


Feb 6 2008

Post-Super Tuesday

I don’t usually do political blog entries, but I’m still in the mood from yesterday, listening to the news all night and watching polls go up and down. I’ve only recently struck an interest in politics, honestly, but I truly do enjoy debating with people over issues. My friend Brandon and I used to argue for fun but now I don’t really have anyone to do that with, so I usually just end up pissing people off with the way I debate.

Ok, so here’s my issue: I want to know why people like Hillary Clinton so damn much. More accurately, I want to know exactly why certain people don’t like Obama. I truly feel like he is the real thing — a true leader; he’s smart, he inspires people, and he stands up for what he believes in. Have you ever listened to one of his speeches? Best of all, I agree with his ideas for how the government should work for the people. The only thing I’ve heard negative about him is that he is isn’t as strong as he should be on the torture issue, but from what I’ve read, that’s not the case.

“When I am this party’s nominee, [my opponents] will not be able to say that I wavered on something as fundamental as whether or not it is ok for America to torture — because it is never ok… I will end the war in Iraq… I will close Guantanamo. I will restore habeas corpus.” — Barack Obama, Des Moines, Iowa, November 10, 2007

I like his policies dealing with technology. I like his foreign policy ideas. I like him as a person. So, what don’t people like about him? I want to know. And don’t say you don’t like him because he doesn’t have enough political experience. I think this quote by Robert DeNiro puts it best:

“Barack Obama does not have the experience to be president of the United States. For one thing: He wasn’t experienced enough to authorize the invasion of Iraq. And that’s not all. It’s clear Barack Obama does not have the experience to let the special interests run the government. That’s the kind of inexperience I can get used to.” — Robert DeNiro, East Rutherford, NJ,

What really bothers me is when I tell someone that I like Obama and they cringe, “Eh, I don’t really agree with some of his policies… but he’s better than Hillary.” Well, what don’t you agree with? Seriously, name a policy that you don’t like. If you’re going to say that you disagree with his policies, you should be ablee to name the ones you disagree with. The most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard is religious nuts that receive misinformation and take it for truth. The notion that Obama is secretly Muslim, and is trying to destroy America from the inside-out. Or, that Obama refuses to put his hand over his heart when the National Anthem is played. Are you retarded? Honestly, I want to know if you were dropped on your head as a child.

I could tell you a million reasons why I do not support Hillary for President. I really want to know why anyone supports her at all. What do people like about her? That she’s a woman running for president? That she’s Bill’s wife? Honestly, I think that she is contrived – a carefully calculated political machine. She will do whatever it takes to get votes, and I don’t know how people can fall for that sort of thing. She chokes up the night before the New Hampshire primaries, and she comes from behind to beat Obama. Now, she’s starting to fall behind again, and then lost to Obama in South Carolina. So, what does she do the day before the Super Tuesday primaries? She gets all teary-eyed again in the public eye. It’s pretty pathetic.

Anyway, as of now, New Mexico is still too close to call. It’s pretty crazy. Obama’s barely winning by around 117 votes, which really makes me regret not registering to vote in time. He took Utah pretty easily, which was kind of a surprise for me. Of course, it does not surprise me at all that Romney won Utah by a landslide — somewhere around 90%. Wow, who would have guessed?

So tell me, why do you like/dislike certain candidates?