Newt Gingrich Crawls Back

Despite his poor rankings from the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary, it appears candidate Newt Gingrich has pulled back to the forefront of the race following his victory in the South Carolina Primary.

Gingrich attributes his win to his performance in recent debates. Though attacked by negative ads from other candidates, in subjects including his controversial "open marriage" proposal to his ex-wife, he pulled through with cheers and applause. As he remarked, he did not need to spend sums of money in advertising to win a primary; it was his ideas that counted.

Endorsed by Rick Perry and Sarah Palin, the former Alaskan governor, Gingrich attracted votes from many conservatives and religious citizens. In addition, exit polls indicated that he was backed by those concerned with the economy: 42% who picked Gingrich to the 28% who voted for Romney. It appears economic policy is just as important as the moral and ideological values candidates wish to bring to office. This game-changing victory may well aid Gingrich in Florida, where he next prepares to embark upon a series of campaigns.

Legislative Immunity: Necessary Protection or Unfair Advantage?

In Arizona, repeal of a little privilege called legislative immunity has been brought up. Essentially, legislative immunity bars "the arrest of legislators during, and 15 days before, legislative sessions," with the exceptions of "treason, felony or breach of the peace."
Last year, then-Senator Scott Bundgaard was involved in a fight with his girlfriend on the side of a freeway. The fight left both of them with cuts and bruises. When police arrived and handcuffed Bundgaard, Bundgaard asserted his position as a legislator and, alluding to the constitutional provision of legislative immunity, insisted they remove his handcuffs. Bundgaard spent that night at his house, free from arrest, while his girlfriend spent that night in jail. Although his girlfriend was later deemed the victim in the case, Bundgaard would have been "arrested on possible domestic violence charges and suspicion of DUI on the night of the incident if not for the immunity law."
There have been other cases, too. A legislator in Arksansas leads officers on a "high-speed chase through two counties and doesn't get taken into custody." A Georgia lawmaker says he "couldn't be prosecuted on a DUI charge."
However, some believe reaction to legislative immunity has been too quick and impulsive. Does legislative immunity protect our legislators and help ensure their best performance in sessions or does it give them an unreasonable privilege?

What to Expect for the State of the Union Address

President Obama's State of the Union address is scheduled for Tuesday of next week, and it is intended to not only address the country's primary issues, but to also create some political momentum for the presidential race. In his presidential preview, President Obama states that the "central mission we have as a country" is to "rebuild the economy."  This issue was mentioned before in the last State of the Union address and the main focus was on creating jobs.  In this address, President Obama seems to be stressing equality, and making equal opportunities for individuals to succeed in the current economy, "not just the wealthy few".  The address is stated to discuss President Obama's "blueprint" for creating such opportunities, which will consist of more "made in America" jobs, "homegrown" and "alternative" energy, "skills for American workers," and a "return to American values".  Expect these topics to be mentioned for the better part of the address, especially the "return to American values," which President Obama cites as the most important topic.

3 Important Numbers

As the talk regarding elections, candidates, and the next president continues, I came across this article that I found to be very interesting (link is the title). In essence, this article addressed three numbers that are play prominent roles in determining the next president.
The first of the three numbers is the unemployment rate. Citizens will want to keep a president in office for a second term if he seems to be doing great things in terms of reducing unemployment and creating jobs and will perhaps want to more carefully consider other candidates if there seems to have been stagnant growth or even negative growth under the rule of the current president.
The second number is the price of gas. As someone who drives, I can relate to the importance this number plays in many people's lives. For some, commute is inescapable and perhaps a daily undertaking. This number directly impacts our lives on a day-to-day basis, so increased prices throughout a presidency can potentially foreshadow changes in the way citizens vote.
Finally, the third number is the Dow Jones average. I remember a mention about how the president has very little control over the economy, but what happens to the economy directly impacts the way voters view the president.

Southern Republican Debate

The four remaining GOP presidential candidates, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul face off at the CNN debate in Charleston.

It is said that this years S.C primary set a new standard for the backhand attacks towards each runner of the Presidential election. Mere hours before the voting was to occur, major news hit. As stated in a previous post, Rick Perry withdrew and started backing Gingrich while Gingrich's second wife, Marianne, unveiled a story of how Gingrich initially wanted an "open" marriage. This then led to Gingrich attacking the media. All this within hours of the S.C. primary. While Republicans are typically and hastily labeled as conservative, it's a whole new game when the presidency is on the table. This all goes back to how candidates are portrayed by the media and by the limited speeches and interviews shown to the public. With all this in mind, I wonder who's going to win the primary. I guess we shall see the results soon enough.

iPad 2 Scam

In Vancouver, up to ten fake iPads have been sold in Best Buy and in Future Shop stores. Investigations are beginning, but as of now, it is believed that the robbers bought the original iPads, replaced the iPads with carefully measured clay amounts, resealed the packaging, and returned the fake products to the stores to be in turn sold to other customers. Spokesman for Future Shop Elliott Chun expresses the seriousness with which Future Shop approaches this matter, as it diminishes the company's integrity and reputation.
Why do you think people have chosen to resort to such measures to gain some money? Does the economy have anything to do with it?

Bye Bye to Mega Upload

The beloved MegaUpload, a popular file-sharing site, has been taken down as the Department of Justice attempts to curve the amount of piracy that goes on as well as put a stop to the not-so-hidden copyright infringements that go on within the internet. MegaUpload is just the beginning of the shutdowns to occur. Thus far, there have been 4 arrests, 18 domain seizures as well as a recovery of $50 million dollars worth of assets. Out of the 7 MegaUpload operators, 3 are still being searched for as well as speculation that popular rapper Swizz Beatz is the CEO of MegaUpload.

Personally, I believe this takes away much of the appeal of the internet. Slowly more and more sites will go down. No longer is everything within a click of the mouse. I suppose we should have seen this coming; there were signs. Within the past year, YouTube, a popular video sharing site, has also cracked down on copy right laws with many videos being taken down due to improper crediting of music, video clips, etc. Perhaps they foresaw this occurring. What's going to happen to Limewire? Torrent? What are we going to do now guys?

Rick Perry Is Out, Backing Newt Gingrich

Deuces!!!!

Governor Rick Perry has recently suspended his campaign for the GOP presidential nominee.  His decision is no surprise in light of the dwindling support he has garnered over the past months. Based on recent polls, Perry was projected to have around 6% of South Carolina's votes, behind Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, and Paul. Although Perry will no longer make an impact on the GOP nomination, he had his fair share of noteworthy moments and controversies while his campaign was still active.  In remembrance of the Texas governor, here are some of Rick Perry's most memorable moments.

Colbert to Run for President

Following the successful transfer of his super PAC to Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert announced last Thursday his intention to run for President of the United States of South Carolina.

Comedian and host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," the inspired candidate decided to join the race after polls revealed he could potentially trump Huntsman in the South Carolina GOP Primary. To do so, however, he was first required to relinquish control of his super PAC, a Political Action Committee capable of raising unlimited amounts of money for advertising candidate ideals and values. As lawyer and former Federal Election Committee Chairman Trevor Potter explained, so long as Colbert does not "coordinate" with Stewart, the "Definitely Not Coordinating with Stephen Colbert Super PAC" may legitimately operate.

Under Stewart's leadership, the super PAC, also dubbed "Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow" ran ads attacking the negativity of other campaigns and endorsing a presidential candidate, one of which included a clip of Colbert slowly smiling to patriotic music over a period of twenty seconds. Through these ads, Stewart and Colbert effectively satirized other super PACs, which have contributed millions of dollars for GOP candidacies and sparked a controversy over their unlimited funding.

Unfortunately, as the state of South Carolina does not allow write-ins on the ballot nor accept candidates later than the November 1st deadline, the super PAC instead extended endorsements to Herman Cain, whose name shall appear on the ballot despite his earlier withdrawal from the race.

U.S Involvement in Syria?

Bashar al-Assad, Syria's leader, slowly dwindles as the war against the Syrian government rages on. For about a year now, people all over Syria have been protesting against the Syrian government calling for change. Leader al-Assad has been beside himself about what to do; many calling him "as delusional now as when the protests began". With a scarce number of loyal people left, al-Assad has turned to increased violence and oppression toward the increasing number of protesters. The international human rights organization states that it's "to be one of the worst in the Middle East."

After 10 months al-Assad continues in attempt to save what is left of his regime, his recent speech called on loyalists to continue their support and not to lose faith.

"Assad will fight to the end simply because he cannot even conceive of his end."

As the oppression continues, U.S as well as the international community question what role they should take in this. So far, they have continued their economic sanction, not getting directly into the middle of things which is surprising as that seems to be a trend of the United States, getting in between the affairs of other countries. Although the sanctions have lowered the Syrian economy, it has not lowered the violence or oppression.

Do you guys think U.S. should get more involved?

The South Carolina Primary-- Game Changer?

With just days 'til the South Carolina primary, many are questioning the lead Mitt Romney has on the other GOP candidates. A recent poll shows that, although Romney does still have his lead, his days are numbered. Newt Gingrich is catching.

"A CNN/Time/ORC International poll indicates that 33% of likely South Carolina Republican primary voters say they are backing Romney, with 23% supporting Gingrich. The former Massachusetts governor's 10 point advantage over the former House speaker is down from a 19 point lead two weeks ago. According to the survey, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania is at 16%, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is at 13%, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry stands at 6%."

Many say that Newt Gingrich has a new momentum unlike the others. What do you guys think? Will this primary be a game-changer?

Tpumps Raises Prices

As many of you may know, the popular drink store in San Mateo downtown, Tpumps, has increased its prices. From a previous $2.00 price for a regular sized 24-oz drink and a $2.50 price for a "pumpbo" 36-oz sized drink, Tpumps now charges $2.50 for the regular and $3.50 for the 36-0z, $0.50 and $1.00 price increases respectively.
So why the increase in price? One explanation may stem from the business perspective. Since opening in the summer of 2011, Tpumps has become a largely popular destination. The unique drinks they boast combined with their relatively cheaper prices as compared with other stores downtown has earned Tpumps lots of business. Perhaps due to the vastness of demand and the limit of supply, increasing prices could maximize profits for the store.
Another explanation could be the need to increase prices due to costs of supplies, ingredients, and other operating costs. At $2.71 (with tax) for the 36-0z drink, Tpumps was relatively inexpensive for the size of beverage offered. Raising prices may have been necessary to maintain the revenue generated by the store.
With this new price increase, will customers continue to support Tpumps? For some, the dollar increase on a drink previously only $2.50 could perhaps serve as an incentive to no longer purchase from them. However, the question may boil down to elasticity of demand. Is Tpumps a necessity or a luxury? Are there substitute goods? What proportion of income does it constitute? Is demand elastic or inelastic? The answers to these questions will most probably differ for each person. For some, demand will be elastic, and for others, such as Alice Zheng, demand will range more on the inelastic side.
Personally, I will most likely continue to buy drinks from Tpumps but perhaps with a little less frequency. How do you think Tpumps's new prices will affect its business?

Leap Seconds: An Inefficient Use of Time?

For years, governments have debated eliminating leap seconds, seconds added at inconsistent intervals in order to compensate for the wobble in Earth's rotation. Leap seconds prevent atomic clocks from surpassing solar time. However, critics are increasingly advocating for the elimination of these seconds.
First off, critics argue that eliminating leap seconds would allow for a more "steady" time and would strip systems such as air traffic control systems and financial markets of the hassle of having to stop their clocks for a second or two every few years. Judah Levine of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Colorado insists that while clocks may be paused, "the world doesn't stop." Critics also reference world time differences in support of the eradication of leap seconds, arguing that leap seconds occur at varying times throughout the day based on geographic location, rendering them even more cumbersome. GPS systems do not calculate leap seconds, and leap seconds are difficult to predict more than six months ahead of time.
However, countries such as China and Canada have voiced concern regarding the elimination of leap seconds. Others worry about detaching the connection between atomic time and solar time. In fact, elimination of leap seconds would cause atomic time to advance ahead of solar time at a rate of approximately 90 seconds per century. After thousands of years, atomic and solar time would be severely disconnected from each other.

Romney part of the 1%

Under pressure from the public and media, Romney disclosed his tax return rate was somewhere around 15%. "By his own admission, Mr. Romney ranks among the tiny percentage of very wealthy Americans who have benefitted enormously from a broad shift in federal tax policy that began in the 1990s and accelerated under President George W. Bush, in which income from investments began to be taxed at much lower levels than the wages and salaries that constitute most earnings for the vast majority of people." This admission doesn't bode well for Romney as he is sure to lose any support he had from individuals that identify with the 99% group and probably many people who are unhappy with paying taxes. President Obama, on the other hand, "paid an effective federal tax rate of just over 26 percent on his 2010 returns." This admission could turn the election in Obama's favor for what is predicted to be a close race. Is this the start of Romney's downfall?

Wikipedia Closes its Doors for the next 24 Hours
I apologize, sort of, for my flurry of posts today, but the past 24 hours has been quite a noteworthy day for news.  In light of the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), Wikipedia has chosen to raise awareness about the bills, which will be voted on by the senate on January 24, by blocking access to its vast database for the next 24 hours.  Concern among these acts is quite apparent online, and even Google has attempted to raise awareness by fashioning a black censorship banner over its flagship logo.  While these acts are meant to crack down on piracy, there is concern that the passing of these bills will give government power to censor the web and take down websites on a whim.  Personally, I applaud Wikipedia for taking a stand in this issue, which reveals the massive influence of the web and how it can greatly affect government and politics. Unfortunately if you want to learn more about SOPA and PIPA, you may have to dig around a bit since, you know, Wikipedia is not operational...Oh wait Wikipedia conveniently provides a link explaining the acts and its effects (along with the artices on SOPA and PIPA) here!

Here is another reading on the Wikipedia shutdown:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/with-sopapipa-blackout-some-rest-for-the-wikied/2012/01/17/gIQATE6Y6P_story.html?tid=pm_lifestyle_pop

Wikipedia Blacks Out

In a world where information is freely distributed and accessible, it is difficult for a majority of Americans to imagine life with a censored Internet. Wikipedia is but one of many sites to demonstrate such an inconvenience. For 24 hours from now, it intends to black out along with Reddit and more in protest of two Congressional bills, SOPA and PIPA.

The Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act were intended to combat the piracy of movies, music, and other intellectual property, a continuing problem that has cost the entertainment industry billions of dollars. Unfortunately, critics claim, the bills may not do as much good as harm. Not only would websites that shared digital content, including Youtube, Tumblr, and other social media sites, be subject to lawsuits, but search engines could be required to remove links to offending sites, effectively wiping them from the face of cyberspace.

Internet giants from Wikipedia to Google have voiced their concerns. Even White House representatives, including the U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, have responded to petitions: “While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.”

Despite the attacks, authors of the bill made statements against the protest. As Rep. Lamar Smith claims, “It is ironic that a website dedicated to providing information is spreading misinformation about the Stop Online Piracy Act.” He criticized Wikipedia for “promoting fear instead of facts.”

Are Wikipedia and information sites truly doing a disservice to the world, or is their message worth spreading?

"The Obamas"

"Daily Show" host Jon Stewart commented on the very controversial book "The Obamas" by Jodi Kantor. There has been much controversy over the accuracy of the things mentioned in the book. Having no interviews with the Obamas' themselves, people are skeptical when reading the book.

Jon Stewart, having recently read the book, comments on his show saying that "I'm surprised at the controversy because the book seems to portray Michelle Obama as a complex yet human individual struggling with this unbelievable situation yet remaining the moral compass and center of an administration trying to find its footing."

Again, due to the convoluted ways of the media, they have, once again, twisted the book into an un-needed controversy about the relationship between husband and wife, as well as husband, wife, and aides.

My question to you is would you read this book? If so, would you find it credible in it's claims?

"Helpless Asian Man Attacked and Jumped by 7 others"

If anyone has been on youtube or facebook lately, you might have heard of or seen this video which has actually been removed by many sites due to the vulgarity and violence depicted.  Pictured above is just a glipse of what occurs in the video, which consists of 7 delinquents mercilessly beating up an Asian student targeted because of his race.  To make matters worse, the original upload date of this video was yesterday, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a time where equality is meant to be recognized and celebrated. Now reportedly, at least one of the perpetrators has been arrested, as depicted here. Based on many youtube and blog comments, the hate directed towards these malicious individuals is quite apparent, but in light of MLK day do you think we should be a little more forgiving?  Martin Luther King Jr. chose to take the high road during the civil rights movement, a time of much violence, tension, and hate.  By stooping down to the levels of these delinquents and wishing harm upon them, it shows that we are no better than them, which seems to be a disservice to the late reverend.  In light of MLK day, I hope this video will unify us as a nation under the goal to end hate and bigotry rather than to incite more anger and alienation.

This is the only working link to the "Helpless Asian Man" video that I am aware of.
Warning: NSFW. The images in this video may be disturbing.  There are also abundant profanities and racial slurs.

U.S. Drone Returned...But Miniature-Sized

In December, the United States' RQ-170 Sentinel drone was captured by the Iranian government. The U.S. government insisted the drone was in operation over East Afghanistan and came down only due to "technical malfunction."
President Obama called for the drone to be returned, but on December 11th, the Iranian government made it clear they would not comply with President Obama's request with regards to the United States' "hostile act" of impeding upon Iranian airspace.
Now, the Iranian government has agreed to return the drone but only a miniature version that is 1/80th the size of the original. The miniature version will also be available for Iranian customers to purchase at stores for the United States' currency equivalent of $4.00.
Hillary Clinton, the United States' Secretary of State, admits that even with the formal request, "we do not expect [Iran] to comply."

South Carolina Republican Debate Debrief: Gingrich's Janitor Comments Racist?

Newt Gingrich received a standing ovation at yesterday's South Carolina GOP debate for his comments about poor individuals, sparked by Juan Williams, one of the moderators for the debate.  Williams questioned whether Gingrich's assertion that poor people lack worth ethic and should work as janitors seemed "at a minimum, as insulting to all Americans but particularly to Black Americans."  Gingrich then fires back by explaining that his daughter worked as a janitor at 13 years of age and viewed the job as rewarding.  He also elaborates by explaining that New York janitors receive an "absurd amount of money because of the union" which could be given to 30 kids who would pocket money, learn responsibility, and become much less likely to drop out of school. Gingrich concludes his argument by promising to truly aid the poor so they can "learn how to get a job, learn how to get a better job, and learn someday to own the job."
However, Gingrich's statements such as calling president Obama, the "food stamp president" and that the poor "lack work ethic" seem to be insensitive, as pointed out by Juan Williams who points out that Americans are concerned that his comments appear "intended to belittle the poor and racial minorities." Although Gingrich won the support of the South Carolina Republican crowd, it seems far less likely that his views will win as much support in less conservative regions. Based on his comments, is Gingrich coming off as an insensitive,stereotypical conservative or a realist who genuinely wants the poor to succeed?