Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

President-elect Obama throughout his life has overcome amazing odds and obstacles to achieve what he has done on November 4th, 2008. He has won the presidency in a historic and difficult race, but the real test of his fortitude and capacity as a leader has yet to come. Unfortunately he is going to inherit a large mess domestically and will his start his first term as a wartime president. He must decisively steer America away from the disaster that she is heading towards to both domestically and internationally. Quite a few issues, however, standout. In the international arena, Iranian acquisition of a nuclear bomb would completely change the way international relations work, and so it is pivotal that our president does everything in his power to prevent that from happening. Also, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan are sources of huge controversy, and the mishandling of those conflicts can perpetually drain our economy and potentially lead to catastrophic ends. Internally, the collapse of Lehman Brothers has marked the worst financial situation in recent history, and America is halfway on its path to a full-blown recession. Let's hope that Obama truly wants to rise above partisan politics as he says and not worry about reelection so that he can completely devote himself to the issues at hand.

Although the situation seems exceedingly bleak, he has a solid foundation to work from. Even though the democrats in senate were just 4 seats short of obtaining a filibuster proof majority, this will still be a significant boost in helping Democratic legislation pass amid Republican dissent. He also enjoys global support as indicated by the response he received from the hundreds of thousands of Germans that greeted him in Berlin.

President-elect Obama has the ability to inspire people in this time of crisis and instill hope in them that things will be alright in the end. His catchword was change throughout the election and he came to symbolize a departure from the Bush presidency that we've had for the past 8 years. Sound familiar? President Roosevelt back in the 1930's and 1940's brought America back up on her feet when she had fallen down in the Great Depression and also stood in the face of evil during Hitler's conquest of Europe. Although the current situation isn't nearly as bad, there are still many similarities: the banking system is on the edge of collapsing, the economy in general is going downhill, and there is the looming problem of terrorism overseas. If Mr. Obama is anything like Roosevelt, he will address America one-on-one and let her know that everyone is in this together. He has revived America with his words and promises just as FDR did back then; now it's President Obama's turn to show America that he too can pick her up in times of trouble just like his great American predecessor.

Longboarding

I've decided to pick up long boarding. Whenever I'm walking to class I'd spot several students gliding by effortlessly and getting from one side of campus to another in a time that's much faster than I can ever opt for on my two feet.

I also recall the middle school days when I skateboarded. It was immensely joyful, but a speed wobbling accident completely turned me off from riding ever again. You can imagine the panic one would feel when going down a huge hill with a busy intersection coming up, and realizing that the control of the board is beyond the user now. There were only two options I could think: the first was to jump off hoping that I don't break anything, and the other was to navigate myself through the intersection hoping that a car wouldn't splatter my guts everywhere. Naturally I decided to jump off and accept whatever would happen to me after that point. Fortunately, I didn't break anything but I did scrape up my hips and elbows pretty badly.

But that was then. This is now. In hindsight, the crash was completely preventable had I tightened my trucks. In addition, a long board is designed to handle speed and down hill cruising much better than a skateboard. The prerequisites for being adept at long boarding are quite different too. Since they are for different purposes, a good long boarder should be able to flow gracefully down a steep hill (sort of like snow boarding on concrete), which is an aspect that I really like. To me, long boarding seems to be much more in tune with the surroundings, and I look forward to picking up where I last left off with skateboarding.

Dorms Are The Worst Places To Study

Throughout an entire day, I walk through the dorms twice. Once to leave for class and the other to get back to room from class. In between that period, I do all my studying usually outside the dormitories in order to avoid the constant noise and distractions that are characteristic of the res halls.

It's hard for me to imagine how someone can be studying for an intense chemistry exam while in the lounge where people are always walking through. This would absolutely kill any possible concentration in my opinion, and the material internalized would effectively be comparable to diving into the swimming pool of an Olympic race with your mind focusing on where you'd want to go shopping during the weekend. You simply can't win this way since the only path to victory is by marshaling every resource available and concentrating that on a singular goal. Only then is the required intensity and concentration acquired to produce meaningful work and progress.

Unfortunately, the dorms are one of the poorest places to study in that mindset, and one of the thirteen libraries on campus are more than better suited for academic purposes.

Time Management

If there's one mistake that's absolutely fatal to a good GPA in college, it's bad time management. Especially here since it goes by the quarter system. I'm only beginning my third week of classes, and I already have a midterm on Tuesday.

Too often I see jolly people doing nothing and acting as they have all the time in the world, and yet here I am wondering how I'm going to have time to do everything. Oh well we'll see if everyone still acts that way after first quarter.

Proposition 8

I see a lot of people opposing the passing of proposition 8, which would effectively reserve marriage for a man and a woman. They argue that gay people are the same as straight people but they're not. How can they? Gay people reject their bodies biological makeup and structure and completely go against what is right.

Gays are also a health concern. The AID's virus is so much more prevalent in homosexual couples than heterosexual couples, and the legalization of gay marriage would only spread AID's and other nasty STD's.

Some argue that woman and black people were vindicated from their past prejudices and claim that gays are the next to assimilate. Unfortunately, being a woman or black isn't a disorder but being gay is. Do you really think it's normally and ok for two dude holding walking around and holding hands?

Hell no.

So be a responsible citizen and preserve traditionally views of marriage. The line between right and wrong is becoming more and more blurred due to folks who think everything is fine.

Sarah Palin is Official

Officially a dunce, Sarah Palin's aura of invincibility is waning, and even disillusioned folks are taking a second look at this embarrassment of a candidate. She was doomed the moment she stepped in the same room as Katie Couric. Finally here was an interviewer that wouldn't be accused of sexism when asking tough questions. Before Couric, the caution that male interviewers had to take with Sarah Palin to avoid being called a sexist was disgusting so this interview promised to be different from the start. As expected, Palin spoke her usual time-buying political jargon throughout the presentation until she was confronted by a series of foreign policy questions. Regarding her experience in foreign policy, Palin cited Alaska's vicinity to Russia as giving her experience. Couric, obviously "surprised" at these answers, revealed to America and the rest of the world just how shallow Sarah Palin really is.

And that's not it. Palin had the perfect chance to redeem herself in the VP debates, but being the lackluster candidate that she is, she completely bombed the debate from a substance standpoint. She blurted remarks such as "I LOVE Israel," and even winked at the camera during a shout out to local third graders back home. Even though it was blatantly clear, some people willfully chose to be ignorant and commented on how genuine and down to earth she appeared. Bullshit. The problem is that people are taking partial details that support Sarah Palin and phasing out the bad news such as the most obviously inadequate kinowledge on foreign policy.

We're still not done yet. When confronted by a question regarding which Supreme Court decisions she disagreed with, Palin just named the obvious Roe v. Wade and wasn't able to identify any other court decisions. Two days later she claimed that she was annoyed by the interviewer and was able to artifically "recite" decisions and explain how much they mattered to her.

Ladies and gentleman, I present you the least qualified candidate for vice president. Ever.