5 student topics

Students unhappy with taxpayer money going to AIG-Katherine Gush
Utah Flash making noise in UVU's Mckay event center-Kevin Wirfs
Obama's ratings are dropping among UVU students-Peter Smith
The new Norda House on UVU campus with provide new production rooms for theater students-Brian Murray
Many students wish semester would end earlier rather than a spring break-Ashley Ewert

The So Called Stimlus Bill!!

Barak Obama has asked congress to pass a stimulus bill that is going to save this country's economy as fast as possible. One main reason for this is so that all of the democrats that have been wanting to spend money on ridiculous things over the passed twenty years have put their earmarks in this bill. That is the reason Obama wants this bill passed so fast is so that no one really looks into the bill and they (the democrats) can put all of the spending they want in this bill without any out cry. Thanks to our conservative friends Rush, Hannity, Beck and a few others the public is beginning to find out about this crazy bill and suddenly after only two weeks Obama's ratings are dropping. The funny thing about the whole issue is that these liberals are so frustrated with Sean Hannity in particular that they plan to kick him off the air. We are talking about the second highest rated radio talk show host in the country and the democrats want to kick him off the air because he is informing people of the craziness in this bill. The problem that this new administration is facing is that they were put on such a high pedestal during the campaign that now that they are are in control the liberal media is trying to blame everything that is going wrong on either the previous administration or on conservative talk radio. The second by the way is absurd. The fact that the liberal leaders of this country are so anxious to pass this bill that they are blowing everything thing out of proportion. Just yesterday, speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi claimed that if we didn't pass this bill every month 500 million jobs would be lost. No isn't that interesting since that is almost double the entire population of the United States and over three times the size of the American work force which is about 140 million people. Even if she meant to say 500,000 that is still absurd. She just wants everyone to think things are so bad so they can get their outrageous bill passed. The fact of the matter is yes we are in a recession and yes a lot of people are hurting right now because of it but the government shouldn't be the one to come in and save the day. Let the private sector take care of itself and eventually things will get better but instead our government is so set on passing this 920 billion dollar package that will effect us and our children and our children's children in a very bad way. I am not a fan of how "the messiah" President Obama has started his historic presidency.

9 Days!

Its been 9 days since Barak Obama was sworn in as our nation's 44th president and if you are a republican or conservative you are clinching you teeth. This might be a long two years you us. The good news is that he has banked his whole presidency on this stimulus bill that will pass in the next few days and if that bill doesn't succeed according to America's standards he is going to have short lived success. And the bill won't work. There is to much unnecessary spending in the bill that will not boost our economy rather just put us further into debt. Obviously that isn't that bill of a deal to our government because it seems that is the answer to all of our problems is more spending. Don't get me wrong I know Obama has good intentions with the bill. Something needs to be done with our economy the problem is that what needs to happen is just let it play out. President Obama can't just sit back and let that happen because he promised the American people change and if he just sat back and watched he would have even his liberal supporters turn their backs on him. The good news for republicans is that not one house republican voted for this bill to be passed, and I would have to applaud those 11 democrats that voted no as well. The government doesn't need to grow in size to help the economy it needs to shrink and the only thing this bill does is increase the size of our government. Other then the stimulus bill he has also lifted the ban for federal funding for international agencies who support and preform abortions, he has vowed to shut down Gitmo which is a huge mistake and he has even gone as far as saying we are no longer fighting the war on terror, he had his first TV interview as the president of the free world not on U.S. TV but rather in the middle east. I understand President Obama is trying very hard to help this country in its time of need but I personally feel that he is doing it wrong. I can't wait for two years of this so that we can have the republicans take at least the house back and if he isn't careful maybe even the senate.

College students across the valley buckle down this next week as they embark on a new set of finals which are sure to cause much stress this holiday season.

Utah Valley University starts its fall semester finals next Monday, which marks the first of the newly appointed university and many students are finding it hard to handle the stress of classes let alone the failing economy and the Christmas season. 24 year old Ashley Oldson a full-time student from Draper, Utah said "I just try to keep it all in perspective and just hope for the best and maybe a little sympathy from my teachers." Ashley works two jobs as well as maintaining a full schedule at school.

Not only are students trying to stay afloat in school they are bombarded with news of a failing economy and job losses which last month marked a thirty four year low according to the USA TODAY on Monday. As students scramble to study the last notes and read the last chapters it seems there is never enough time in the day. "The hours just seem to disappear in the day. With work and school I can't find all the hours I need to feel like I'm fully prepared for all of my finals" says UVU freshman Peter Smith. Peter from Brigham City, Utah is supporting himself while paying for his own schooling. He says "it gets a little overwhelming sometimes but at the end of the day I'm just grateful to have a job while I put myself through school". Although finals are rough, students look forward to the holidays which provide a much needed break after a long semester and grueling finals. Students turn to their families for a stress relief as well as a motivator to start a new semester in January. UVU finals go from Dec. 15th through Dec. 20th.

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hannity and colmes

For anyone who has any interest in politics whatsoever, you should watch Hannity and Colmes on Fox News Channel. It airs at 8 every weeknight and is a way to see both sides of the story. Sean Hannity takes the conservative approach and Allen Colmes takes the liberal approach. The nice thing about the show is that you are not getting force fed on one side of any story. The fact is that most people watch their network depending on the side they are on. If you are liberal for the most part you watch CNN and if you are conservative you watch Fox News. The problem with just sticking to the network that tells you your side of the story you might want to look at the other network just to see what is going on on the other side. Hannity and Colmes brings this out. I know if you are a liberal it might be hard for you to turn on Fox News but this show has both sides and both opinions on it. Not only are the two hosts opposite in opinion they make sure and have a wide variety of opinions as guests as well. You will never end the show thinking you only got the one side to the story and I think that is very important in today's media because we seem to just believe what we hear instead of doing our own analysis. On a side note in my post about tv I have to say how excited I am about 24 coming back and Sunday is a 2 hour prequel and I can't wait.

PRESS RELEASE:SparkArts: A Digital Festival Salt Lake City

– The annual SparkArts Digital Festival will be at the Salt Lake City Library this Friday and Saturday. This free event teaches participants how to create art with a computer and is particularly geared toward people who want to make digital art and video games but don't know how. "Utah had a thriving digital arts scene among teenagers and college student in the mid-90s," said Adam Helps, one of the festival's founders. "Unfortunately, much of this has faded away in recent years. SparkArts is our attempt to revive and even expand on this culture, which helped capture the imagination and inspire the previous generation's computing professionals." People are welcome to bring their computers and install our free and legal software so that they can build new creations with ease. Those without computers will be able to use our lab area to work on their projects. Major focuses of the festival include video game programming, computer-aided music composition, digital painting and 3D modeling. Participants will meet professional game developers, musicians, and artists in a casual setting. There will be question-and-answer sessions, tutorials, and many just-for-fun activities including games, scavenger hunts, and competitions inspired by the quirky digital-arts culture. SparkArts will have several different competitions in game creation, music, and art all with a 24 hour deadline. The results will be displayed in a fun and colorful closing ceremony. SparkArts organizers have been setting up similar events for more than five years, and hundreds of participants have come and enjoyed the experience. Most of SparkArts' organizers are software developers and IT professionals working in Utah. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday at the Salt Lake City Public Library, 210 E 400 South. Please contact Clarissa, the events coordinator, at clarissahelps@gmail.com with any questions or comments. Visit the SparkArts website at www.sparkarts.org.

One week later!

Our country made history last week as we voted in the first African American president. Now a week later we find ourselves continuing to make history in a different area. The Economy! As everyone voted for Obama because he was going to bring hope to this country we find ourselves continuing to fall or at least the stock market. The two days after Obama was announced president elect the stock market had its worst two day decline in history. People may hope for Obama to bring hope but the free market world may not see it that way. The thought of new capital gains taxes as well as new business taxes that he hopes to enforce scare those that make this free market go round. I can't say I'm greatly excited for Obama but my greatest worry would have to be that no one knows where this economy is going. The way this market is going has to scare the best of investors. I know the hope can come with a new wave in politics and I can't say that Obama hasn't done a good job with that but I'm not sure anyone knows what to do with this economic mess. I hope the leaders of this country can work together no matter what party they are a part of to fix the mess that we are in. Cause if they don't we are headed for much bigger problems then a new president that we didn't want in there. One last side note: how many days in a row can Obama make the new york times front page?

Obama becomes our next president

As a conservative I have to say I was quite disappointed as I watched last night. Obama was not a good choice in my eyes to lead our country. I just want to make a few points as to why Obama won. First I want to make clear that I congratulate Barack Obama on his victory. He won and probably ran won of the best campaigns in this country's history. On the flip side as a conservative I find his win not as convincing as some. First off McCain took away 55 million of Obama's votes that is pretty good considering he spent a tenth of the money Obama did. The Obama campaign spent somewhere around 860 million dollars and the McCain camp spent 85 million dollars. Obama was on 36 magazine covers during the election and McCain was on 1. For every time Obama was talked about in a negative way in the news McCain got it six times. I know Obama's win was convincing but on the other hand you have to give some credit to McCain for getting as far as he did with the hand he was dealt. He wasn't even truly the republican choice it just happened that way because Huckabee and Romney split the real conservative vote. I hope the next four years go smooth but I'm not as optimistic as some Americans. Hopefully Obama sticks to his acceptance speech and tries to stay as close to the middle as possible.

6 days left!!!

Going back to national politics, we only have six days left til we find out who our next president of the United States is. Will it be Barak Obama or John McCain? Either way honestly I think we might be in trouble. I'm a conservative so of course I choose McCain over Obama because no matter how far left John McCain is Barak Obama is a mile more left. They problem that we are going to be facing though is that as our country is in an economic meltdown both
candidates are coming out will policies that spend more money that this country doesn't have. I don't care what party they belong to either one is going to send this country into bankruptcy. I for one don't care to have that happen. You see the problem is the government wants to help fix things and the poor citizens of the country think that's a great idea. One problem is that our country ,although they put on the front as the hero, doesn't have the resources anymore to fix the problems that are coming about. All of these stimulus packages and helping wall street is all fine and dandy if we have the money but our country is in more debt now than any other time in history. How are we getting this money to fund these packages? Borrowing from China which who knows if they are really are Alia. So with only six days til election, I don't think either one can fix our economic crisis.

news release

Google earth became a phenomenon in 2005 when it first released on the market but today marks the day the engineers envisioned. Google earth was released to the iphone.

The dream of those that produced the application was to carry the world around in your pocket. Many have anticipated the day where we could use this convinient map without having to run to our computer. The new applications comes in 18 languages and is available in 22 countries. Applications include tilting the phone to move the map, browse millions of geo-located photos from around the world and every other feature the original google earth had.

More information can be found on the google blogspot as well as youtube.com where you can visit a vitual tour.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/introducing-google-earth-for-iphone.html

Heartbreak!!!

BYU lost last week which was the worst thing that could have happened this year in college football. As a cougar fan it was their best shot they have ever had at busting the bcs (bowl championship series) the lost was heartbreaking. The worst part about it was the fact that they got blown out. They looked tired and they didn't change the game plan through the game like they should have. Bronco Mendenhall's style is to stick to their game plan that they had prepared for but this time it didn't work at all. they were slow and they just looked like they didn't care. Not only did this game hurt cause they hurt their chance at the bcs bowl they actually had a legitimate shot at maybe making the national title game. With every other conference weeding themselves out of contention. With Texas having one of the hardest four games stretches in history and Penn state playing at Ohio state this week. Where they haven't won in over thirty years. Now is the best time for BYU to run the table. Unfortunately that didn't happen. As a fan you wonder if it will ever happen. I don't think it will and the reason is they don't care enough. They have a religion to fall back on instead of like the rest of the country where football is their life.

A quiet week in college football!

The beauty of college football is that there is never a dull moment. Although this week may have been considered a slow week there was still plenty to talk about. The big 12, arguably the toughest conference this year started conference play this week and although there were not to many major games it is exciting to see what it to come this week. Although no stand out games took place everyone handled business as planned. Missouri took care of Nebraska. Texas tech took care of Kansas state. While Texas took care of Colorado. The fun begins this week as Oklahoma squares off against Texas. This is a one verses five game but in my opinion really will show the best team in the at the end of the game. Although Texas is ranked five they could easily jump to number one with a win this weekend. Many will argue what conference holds supremacy this year but I think the clear cut winner has to be the Big 12 conference which will have SEC fans in an uproar. The funny thing is that I am probably one of the biggest SEC fans but I think the Big 12 has the edge this year, mainly because of talent at the quarterback position. Chase Daniels and Sam Bradford and even Colt McCoy are the best quarterbacks in the country. This helps the cause for the conference not only for talent but also for national media which helps a conference. Many things could happen this week in college football but anyway you look at it the Big 12 is the best conference now and still will be at the end of the week.
My TOP TEN
1-Oklahoma
2-Missouri
3-Alabama
4-Texas
5-LSU
6-Penn State
7-USC
8-Florida
9-BYU
10-Georgia

the BCS

As many of you know I am an avid college football fan. Not just for a team(although I bleed blue) but for the sport in general. It wouldn't be unusual to find me in front of the tv for hours four nights a week watching college football. It just excites me. I am a believer in the BCS system which saying that is pretty much cursing in our society today but I belive it truly brings the best champion out of college football. The problem for BCS faithful this year is BYU. It makes me excited because they are my team but it also could present a horrible situation for the commitee this year. See BYU is not part of the BCS but the rule is that the number one team will play the number two team in the BCS standings no matter who the teams are. The chances of BYU getting to one or two are slim but it is a possiblity and it is already turning peoples heads. BYU is currently ranked 11th in the coaches poll which is one of the key factors in the BCS Standings and if they continue to win and a few others lose we could be presented with a non BCS school playing in the BCS National Championship game. If you think the world is in an uproar already with the BCS just wait folks its just getting started!

GOP National Convention

The night before the headline speach of John McCain we had a chance to get to know an unfamilier face in Sarah Paplin the VP running mate. At first glance I was quite disappointed with Mr. McCain's choice in running mate and am still alittle unsure of the decision but her speech this evening calmed my nerves alittle. It seems as though the down to earth "mother" might be able to grab so undecided votes especially women. She was quite the elequent speaker. She carried herself very well and although there are still many questions looming about her past and her family matters I think the GOP has something to be happy about. As long as something doesn't go seriously wrong over the next two months the elections seem to be in the GOP's favor. With John McCain giving his exceptance speech tomorrow it will be interesting to see how well the party rallies around McCain. If it is anything like the democrat national convention the party should rally very well behing their candidate and we should be in for a good battle over the next few months. Election times are always fun if you enjoy politics and very long and boring to those that don't but my recently found interest in politics has gotten me quite excited about his elections even if I don't think McCain was the best choice for the Republican party. The Republicans have something to look forward to. The ackward ticket could turn into a winning ticket.

Less than 12 hours away!

So for those of you offended by the most recent post, get over it. That's just John showing off an extremist sense of humor. We welcome all ideas on this blog, but of course the dumb ones will be heavily ridiculed in the most politically correct way. Anyway, on to the main point. We are now less than twelve hours away from Super Tuesday, and frankly I'm scared to death. For some reason there is a belief among some long time conservative Republicans that Bush, who was supposed to be conservative, didn't get the job done so now maybe we should move toward a more liberal approach; hence the popularity of John McCain. You average around 12% return in the stock market by sticking to your guns and riding out the rough waves of the market swing, not by jumping ship when an extended low is upon you. Conservative values are what makes this country great. The argument of McCain or Obama is for a later debate, because the time now is to hold on to the last slice of decent conservatism we have available and that's Mitt Romney. If there are any out there, I would love to hear one good reason why McCain should be president over Romney. If you're Republican, then you should be conservative. If you're not conservative, then you should be a Democrat. Of course, that's the confusing part as to why McCain is running as a Republican. As my good friend Ryan (thanks whoever you are) pointed out, it's not so much about being committed to parties as it is to values. In years past that usually meant being either democrat or republican, but this year it means either voting for Romney or not voting for Romney. If the time comes to debate McCain vs. Obama or Clinton we will address it then (Heaven help us!). For now, if you have an ounce of hope for a conservative country in the future, get out and vote for Romney.

Reconsider

After considering it at great lengths, I have come to reconsider my choice to support for Barack Obama. I have determined that while he is more conservative than John McCain (at least dependently so), he is not as conservative as another potential candidate. In fact, I have determined there are three candidates who have better credentials than either John McCain or Barack Obama.

The first is a man who revolutionized an army and can revolutionize a country. He truly brought about change that mattered.


The second is a man who is a true decider. He not only demands order and control, he achieves it.


Finally, I have found one man who gives even better inspirational speeches than Barack Obama. These are just snippets of him in action:


BTW- check this out- one of my heroes-

(If I am going to get called a socialist, I will show you how socialist I can be)

Good old debates!

For those of you that missed the Republican debate last night, you missed a treat. I thought for the most part we had a good debate other then the fact that Mike Huckabee wouldn't shut up about him not getting enough time. Enough out of you Mike, you're out of the race and the vice presidential race hasn't started yet so just save us all some time and get out now so that Romney actually has a chance on Super Tuesday. For those of you who know me I think Ron Paul is a freakin weirdo but I think he did the best job last night. He brought up some good points when they actually gave him some time. As for Romney and McCain, it was just another debacle by our friend "Juan McCain" as Glenn Becks puts it. He never even gave a real stand all night. He only cared about misquoting Romney on the damn BUZZWORD timetable. If Juan would have said buzzword anymore then he did I would have had to change the channel. Unfortunately for Romney although he wins every debate, that according to all focus groups, the liberal media loves Juan McCain and will give him a free ride to the White House.

Change that matters

If, as I suspect, the next few days show John McCain to be the Republican nominee for President of the United States of America, my support will shift from the Republican party. I have always considered myself an independent; fiscally conservative, yet socially liberal. McCain fails to represent the positions that I hold dear. He talks a lot about pork barrel spending (How many times do we have to hear about the $200,000,000+ bridge to nowhere, by the way... Get a new talking point!), but that does not even begin to address the issue of overspending in Washington. When Washington spends money the same way I use my credit cards, there are big problems. Oh, and don't get me started on amnesty. While I do believe we need higher immigration quotas, I don't think amnesty of any form (as if paying a fine to get citizenship were any different than amnesty) will do anything but bring damage to the USA's reputation of being just. GWB already did enough damage on that account.

Beyond that, the fact that McCain not only actively cultivates the image of being a "maverick", but the fact that he (and many Americans) would find that term to be endearing disturbs me. If he were to become POTUS, there would be absolutely no way to determine how he would act.



As such, I will support a candidate that I think could defeat John McCain. He is also a candidate who represents family values (I admire his family- he is also a first wife/non-cheating candidate). He would bring fundamental change to the way Washington operates, because he hasn't become tainted by it yet. As Caroline Kennedy wrote, he truly is "A President like" John F. Kennedy. I also think he could help us lay the issue of racial tension to rest in America, or at least push it into the history books where it belongs, instead of in our modern society. Rather than support "Maverick" McCain, I will support someone who seems at least as conservative as good ole' J-dawg McCain- Barak Obama.

Perception Is Everything

John McCain is the worst conservative Republican candidate we've seen in decades. His policies and plans for the future are being completely overlooked. All that matters to voters currently is that he seems sincere. McCain's strength is currently Romney's weakness. Romney continues to give the appearance to too many voters that he is the used car salesman of the race. Nobody questions his ability to run a business or his understanding of the economy. His policies and issues are praised among conservatives far beyond what his competitors could ever hope for. For most people, his policies are all that matters, but apparently to enough voters, his wishy-washy perceptions is too much to swallow. I myself am a Romney supporter but still question how true to his policies he will stick. Having said that, I urge voters to not fall for McCain's "good guy" approach. I'm not claiming him to be a dishonest or an evil guy or even taking a sneaky approach to his nomination, I'm simply claiming that I don't care. I don't care how nice of a guy McCain is, I care about his policies. He may be republican, but he's not conservative. He wants to cut taxes to spur growth in the economy; great. Then, he also wants to spend over half a billion dollars a year to regulate going green and fight the global warming hoax. He claims to take a strong stand on the war which is fine and dandy until you see what seems to be his twenty year plan. The costs involved with that plan could sink the economy altogether, not help it. I have nothing against McCain personally, but I'm a conservative and he's not, and that's why perception is everything.

McCain the Victor!

When the all important Florida primary came to a close Sen. John McCain came out the victor. This may just be farewell to all other candidates. Mitt Romney who was suppose to make the primary close came out with a 5 point lose that just might finish his campaign. Although we still have super Tuesday a week from today, McCain has incredible momentum with his win in South Carolina and now Florida. McCain leads in delegates now with 97 compared to Romney's 74. According to CNN, Giuliani will drop out of the race and give his endorsement to McCain which will only give him more momentum heading into super Tuesday. As Conservatives try to find someone to lead this country they might just have to settle for the Senator and hope for the best!