Apple iPhone For All

Abilene Christian University (ACU) will be the first college/university in the nation to provide all incoming freshman with either an Apple iPhone or an Apple iPod. This will not be free of course but discreetly hidden in the tuition bill parents receive. Not unlike the University of Delaware's famous "Health Services Fee" which still mystifies me to this day.

I think this is an interesting thing to do but if I attended the school I would be against it. First of all, I don't need (or want) to check my email when I'm not at a computer. Nor do I want to be forced to pay for something which has features I would either never use or not feel comfortable paying for.

The school touts benefits including homework alerts, being able to get directions to their professor's office (heres a hint, it's RIGHT ON CAMPUS) and check meal and account balances. There is no mention of the indirect subsidized profit sharing this is giving to the Steve Jobs Apple empire. I would be inclined to believe Apple and the school discussed the move and some cash changed hands.

Castle Neuschwanstein

This is a picture I took of the castle Neuschwanstein in Bavarian Germany when I was in the area in 2001. The photo was taken from the "marienbrucke" which is a rope bridge that is in the mountains across from the castle. This castle was the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland.

The Psychology Of Men

What makes most men afraid to talk or ask out a woman when the reverse is not usually true? Does this have something to do with generational culture values? I remember talking to my uncle once and he said in the era of the 40's and 50's, most young men had no problem walking right up to the register, counter, or front desk of a store and asking out a young women who had perhaps caught their eye. In fact, this was exactly how my uncle met my aunt as a cheeky teenager asking the girl behind the register for a date.

I thought to myself "geez, I could never do anything like that". After thinking about it, I realized this social practice of "putting oneself out there" is slowly disappearing and now relationships are being created on common activities, school settings or workplace association. I don't mean this for a certain age group but for the general populace as a whole. I've even heard friends say they would think someone was "creepy" if they tried asking them out while they were ringing them up or doing a similar activity. Are we men really losing our courage or has society crushed it for us?

The other day I was walking into a pizza parlor to pick up the family's dinner when an attractive blond girl behind the counter caught my eye. Immediately I felt I had a better change of being struck by lighting, meeting John Travolta, or being picked for John McCain's VP slot then of being able to ask out this girl. As I was paying for the pizza, she made conversation, much more than was necessary and it became obvious that she was smiling at me. What did I do? The same thing every guy seems to do these days, I returned the smile, paid for my pizza, and left. As I was walking back to my car I sadly knew I had done it, just like George Costanza I had decided it was too late for coffee.

The End of Hillary Clinton?

Some have speculated that Hillary Clinton lost most of her "Clinton Mojo" after being defeated in the Democratic primary and the aura of the Clintons has finally faded. Anderson Cooper of CNN seems to think Clinton came out of the primary stronger than she went into it. My personal opinion falls somewhere in the middle.

I think Hillary Clinton did several things that could pave the way for higher office if she is so inclined to seek it later. She ended the talk that she could never win over the "Anti-Hillary" crowd. I feel this happened not because this crowd changed their mind on her but because she was in the public spotlight so much they just simply got used to seeing her around. I think she also stepped out of her husband's shadow and answered any questions about her ability to campaign on her own record and achievements. Though there was some talk by her about the achievements during the (first?) Clinton administration, there was much less than I thought and the foundation of her candidacy was not built on it.

On the other hand, I think Hillary Clinton will not only never serve as the president but she will never run for it again. Obama is likely to chose a V.P. with some "rock star" appeal and this person will likely be on the younger side and on the "spunky" side which would all but point to this person being the nominee in '16 (provided Obama is elected and then re-elected). However I don't think this is the end of Hillary. Don't be surprised to see her in some "dark horse" roles such as Attorney General, Secretary of Health & Human Services, or Supreme Court Nominee. The reason for this statement revolves around her passion for the "nitty gritty" of legislating/representing and how she really gets into the minutia of bills and such. She definitely has a reputation of being a taskmaster and will most certainly have some sort of role in the Obama administration if elected.

Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk

I was excited to see this movie as I had just seen Iron Man about a week ago and was in quite the "super hero" mentality. This movie basically picks up where the last Hulk movie left off, with some new characters thrown in. The movie's action scenes were decent but the plot-line was only mediocre at best. I never really knew what the "goal" of the movie was or how the movie went from start to finish. It was a little "herky jerky" for me.

Liv Tyler was entertaining in her role as Betty Ross while Edward Norton seemed just thrown into the role at times. I thought William Hurt was the best of all the actors in the movie and really had me convinced he was some sort of super military "bad-ass". There really wasn't a large amount of characters in the movie and most of the time was spent following Bruce Banner around as he attempted to escape capture.

The end of the movie was well worth the price of admission as Robert Downey Jr. made a cameo as Tony Stark/Iron Man in order to hype up a sequel which should be coming in the next few years. I mentioned before here that I thought there would be some type of Avengers sequel and it seems Marvel is going to go full steam ahead with that.

Interview: Dale Glading

I recently had the chance to sit down (electronically of course) with Dale Glading, the Republican candidate for the House of Representatives from New Jersey's fightin' 1st district. The following is what transpired:

RM: Your web site's slogan and videos describe you as a potential agent of change. What about the current representation in the district needs changing? What kind of change would you like to bring to the 1st congressional district?

DG: Washington is broken and desperately in need of real reform. The size of the federal government has grown exponentially, requiring more and more of our tax dollars to support and subsidize often unnecessary programs and pork barrel spending. Meanwhile, people in my district and across America are calling for meaningful and positive change in the status quo.

The 1st Congressional District in New Jersey has been represented by the Democratic Party for the past 33 years. During that time, our property taxes have soared, our cost of living has skyrocketed, Camden City has become the poorest and third most dangerous city in America, and citizens are fleeing the Garden State in record numbers. At the same time, New Jersey residents receive less return from their federal tax dollars than any other state, ranking 50th or dead last.

Rep. Rob Andrews has not only failed to properly represent our district and its interests, but he has an almost non-existent legislative record. Since 1993, Rep. Andrews has introduced 579 bills in Congress, but only six (less than 1%) have even made it out of committee. Of those six bills, only one has been enacted into law, giving Mr. Andrews a congressional batting average of .002.

I believe in citizen representatives, not career politicians. After two unproductive decades as a Washington insider, it's time for Mr. Andrews to come home. Replacing him with someone else from the same party (or the same family) is not an option if we want real reform. Albert Einstein defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

It has been said that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." The recent scandal involving Mr. Andrews and the federal earmark he requested for his wife's program at Rutgers Law School - not to mention the earmarks he has requested for multiple campaign contributors - is proof positive of that statement.

Conversely, I am not beholden to special interests or corrupt party bosses. Rather, I am beholden to the people of my district and would seek to represent them with integrity and greater effectiveness.

RM: There has been a heated debate over the role of Camille Andrews as the Democratic nominee and even accusations of Camille being a "placeholder" for her husband or another Democratic candidate. Do you have any thoughts on this?

DG: I believe that Camille Andrews' placeholder status has disenfranchised the Democrat voters in our district and has defrauded the entire election process. The voters should decide who is to represent them, not the backroom party bosses. Asking Mrs. Andrews to keep her husband's seat warm is a prime example of the arrogance and corruption within the South Jersey Democrat machine.

RM: In your policy stances you argue "It would be immoral for the United States to desert its Iraqi allies, who have taken remarkable steps towards building a strong democracy in their homeland, while they require our assistance." You later remark "As a matter of principle Dale Glading opposes the concept of nation building." Do you feel the Iraq War is heading in a positive or in a negative direction? Would you oppose or support a "timetable" for U.S. forces removal. How long do you think the United States forces should stay in Iraq?

DG: I think it is pointless to argue ad naseum the merits of our decision to invade Iraq. That's "water over the dam" and the stark reality is that we're there now and American lives have already been sacrificed...so what do we intend to do from this point forward? An unintended byproduct of our invasion was the destabilization of Iraq. Therefore, to honor our servicemen and women, to protect our national security interests and to fulfill our obligation to the Iraqi people to stabilize their country, we need to maintain the military force necessary to finish the job. Whereas I strongly advocate bringing our troops home as soon as possible, setting an artificial timetable is nothing but political posturing and poor foreign policy.

RM: On your website you remark "Dale wants to put an end to cronyism and career politicians, and he will replace backroom politics with the voice of the people." Does this mean you would decline to seek higher office if elected to represent New Jersey's first congressional district?

DG: I entered this race to serve the people of the 1st Congressional District and to offer them a real choice for the first time in more than 30 years. Unlike Rep. Andrews, I do not possess an insatiable political ambition for higher office. I also strongly believe in term limitations.

RM: The economy has been a great concern of many American with gas prices, inflation, and economic pessimism all on the rise. What steps would you take to alleviate these problems if elected to congress.

DG: I would advocate a substantial reduction in government spending - including the elimination of all federal earmarks - and a corresponding reduction in our tax burden.

RM: Thank you for your time!

The Hoover Dam

This is a picture I took in the summer of 2004 of the Hoover Dam in the Las Vegas area of Nevada. A good portion of the west gets some form of electrical power from the Hoover Dam. At one section of the dam, the time zone moves from mountain to pacific so it is very neat to repeatedly jump across time zones. Most of the power generated from the dam goes to southern California while the rest is split between other western states.

I Spy With My Little Eye

In a move that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, the house decided to pass the update to the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) which would give retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies who had conspired with the government to conduct illegal wiretapping. The bill is called a "compromise" because it closes some loopholes to allow the continuation of further wiretaps and calls for increased oversight and regulation but permits the immunity.

I don't agree with the deal one bit. These companies willingly handed over information without taking it to the courts to decide if it stood the legality test. That is treason in my mind against the American public. Secondly, it sends a signal to companies that further aiding and abetting of the government will not only be tolerated, but be under legislative precedence.

Some people argue the government should be able to wiretap because it protects us from terrorists and foreign nationals who would do our country harm. I counter by saying, the allowing of wiretapping without warrants, is one step closer to a KGB/Soviet Union state where political dissenters are spied upon and watched. In the best quote of the afternoon, Nancy Pelosi defended the bill saying it would shift authority from the president to the FISA, saying: "There is no inherent authority of the president to do whatever he wants. This is a democracy not a monarchy."

Obama Weighing Options At VP

Apparently Barack Obama's private list for VP includes both former vice presidential candidate John Edwards and former senator Sam Nunn. This is not news in the sense that the two men have been talked about for some time but never publicly acknowledged by the campaign. Al Gore's name was also discussed publicly for what I believe to be the first time.

The benefits for Edwards include having a proven populist on the ticket which I believe American voters have been gravitating towards since '06. Edwards also brings an appeal for lower income and working-class workers. Nunn brings military experience and could help draw in moderates. Gore on the other hand, could add some spunk and energize the party.

There hasn't been any word on when Obama will make his decision. I would assume he would want to do it before the convention and at a time where he could dominate the headlines. Possibly after the July 4th weekend? Only time will tell.

What Are Wisdom Teeth For?

As I will be going through an unfortunate and unavoidable wisdom teeth extraction on Monday, I've decided to examine exactly why humans develop wisdom teeth. Some think the teeth were an evolutionary answer to a diet comprised mostly of foliage. Our stomachs are not developed to grind up nuts, leaves, berries, roots as well as some animals are. All these foods require greater chewing power and may cause more wear on the teeth.

Interestingly enough, some populations of people have a greater chance of developing wisdom teeth than others. The Bantu speaking people of southern Africa have a 99.8% chance of developing wisdom teeth while indigenous peoples of Mexico have a 0% chance of developing them. This lends support to the diet theory.

I am not quite sure I subscribe to the diet theory. People would have still eaten just as much as they do now as they did back then and should of had problems with cleaning the wisdom teeth and getting them to form in the mouth correctly. I guess we will never truly know.

Movie Review: The Happening

While not an overly large sum of money, $9.50 is quite a large amount to shell out for a movie. Especially if in the end, the movie isn't worth the money you paid for it. M. Night Shayamalan's "The Happening" while harboring much intrigue and promise by me before viewing it, was clearly a fall from grace for the director.

Without spoiling any details, I will go out on a limb to say if you have seen the previews you have probably already seen the movie in my mind. The movie features a consistently "surprised" Mark Wahlberg, a puzzling and disjointed marital strife between Wahlberg and the lead female, and a less than satisfying ending. There were some scattered scenes of pointless violence, and the movie could have easily been PG-13 had these been taken out.

There were some bright spots, as the scenes involving Betty Buckley playing the part of a paranoid old woman were weird and strange enough to be mildly interesting and entertaining. Aside from that, the movie wasn't worth $3.00 let alone $9.50. I would advise anyone looking for some semblance of entertainment and organized flow to look elsewhere.

Flora Chloris

Believe it or not this is actually a picture of a flower from a potted plant that was on my front porch. I liked the picture because the flower has a "tropical" feel to it. It is one of the best pictures I have ever taken.

Associated Press: Licensing The Blog

In a strange and eerily-autocratic move, the Associated Press is trying to create legal grounds to issue licensing agreements to allow readers to quote passages as small as five words. This has huge ramifications for bloggers as I alone quote the AP numerous times while writing opinions on stories. Thus I consider this move an insult and a "slap in the face" to the spread of enlightened and grassroots thought and editorials.

Charging between $12.50 and $100.00 in order to quote words the AP stands to reap a huge profit off this as this would apply to bloggers, other news institutions, emails between co-workers/friends/family and etc. Even if one were to decide to pay the exorbitant fee charged, the AP could rescind the agreement at any time if use of the licensed content was deemed "offensive and/or damaging to (the) Publishers reputation".

The New York Times views the move as an "attempt to define clear standards as to how much of its articles and broadcasts bloggers and websites can excerpt". I would rather "define" this as a veiled attempt to usurp power and control the flow of media throughout the internet. There isn't any word yet on the legal muscle behind this move but needless to say I am very disappointed in the AP.

Movie Review: Iron Man

Having little to do since I graduated college a few weeks ago, I decided to take a trip to see a matinée showing of Iron Man in the theater. I was a little skeptical of films having taking in "The Happening" just two days prior and still having a bad taste in my mouth from the $9.50 I spent on that.

I was very impressed with Iron Man. The film did a good job of portraying Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) as a playboy, carefree young billionaire. Often comic book films ignore the character traits of a specific superhero in order to stick to the main storyline. I liked the character development in this movie and thought it was outstanding.

The film was light on actual "Iron Man" scenes up until the end, with most of the movie being spent on character development, story development and (in my mind) future sequel "set-up". At the end of the movie, Samuel L. Jackson makes a cameo as Nick Fury which justified my assumption further movies would be created. Overall a great watch, enjoyable for someone not familiar with the comic, and comprehensive enough for the avid comic book reader.

The Youth Vote: I'm Skeptical

Many eons ago in the year of our lord 2004, youth voters were supposed to be all the rage. With get out the vote efforts such as "Vote or Die" spearheaded by Sean Combs and other famous moguls, 2004 was supposed to be the high point for the youth voter. In some respects it was as youth voting surged eleven points to crest at a respectable (but not overwhelming) 47%. However youth voters did not decide the election as many thought they would.

As we approach November 2008, lo and behold youth voters are all the rage again. With Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee, some pundits feel the youth and "trendy" vote will catapult Obama to the White House. However I am skeptical after dissecting the true numbers. With all the hoopla and uproar for the youth vote in 2004 the turnout could not beat that for youth voters in 1992.

In 1992 there was no famous actors spearheading the vote, no "Vote or Die" campaigns and no national movement for the youth vote but that year was able to beat 2004 by 2 percentage points. If I were advising the Obama campaign I would view youth voters as a potential prize and not a lynchpin for the campaign. Potential in the sense that you never know when these historically fickle voters will show up. If the "trendy" appeal to vote Obama in November were to somehow wear away, it will be a long cold winter for Democrats.

Father's Day: My Memories

As father's day dawns upon us once again I reflect on the life of my father, whose life ended far to young. My grandfather died when my father was three years old leaving him to a life that lacked a male presence to guide him. He persevered, fighting through poverty, tough circumstances, and the turbulent atmosphere of the inner-city of Philadelphia.

People often talk about heroes in a grandiose and super-human context in order to to justify their hero status. I don't know if super-human abilities make a person a hero. Can't a hero be someone who works hard all their life to provide something they never had for their children: a higher education and a promise of a better life?

My father was and still is my hero. Even though it has been over five since his death, I am still reaping the rewards of his hard work by living a comfortable life and just having graduated college, the funding of which came by years of toiling through hard work on his part. Celebrities and athletes are often called heroes because of their status in the limelight or their actions on the court or in the movie studio. I believe the true hero is someone who is willing to sacrifice their time, their body and ultimately...their life for another human being. Thank you dad for being my hero.

Culture Wars

Since 2001 there has been a growing debate over the relationship between Islam (specifically Middle Eastern) and Christianity (Western). There is anger and resentment on both sides as some Christians have labeled Muslims as "terrorists" and religious fanatics while some of the Middle-East sees the west as unholy, perverse and in a state of moral decay. I feel the problems arose because of an inability and in some cases an unwillingness to understand and respect each other's culture. This has boiled over to swallow entire nations such as Iran and the United States whose icy relationship is culture based in my opinion

There are many events in recent history that can be attributed to this religious and culture standoff. Events such as World War I, the 1973 Oil Crisis, Gulf War and September 11th 2001 can all be traced to this culture war. As the fear and likeliness of terroristic events increase, many people wonder what steps can be taken to alleviate the tensions before it is too late.

A first step to take is to bring both sides together to foster both conversation and intelligent discussion. Presidential candidate Barack Obama has argued for conversations with Iran and other nations the U.S. has had tense relations with. While the politics of this move can be argued to no end, I feel the general underlying idea is a good one. Some critics may feel this is a show of weakness on the part of the United States to have discussions with nations such as Iran but I feel as human beings nothing wrong can come by talking to your so called enemy. I would like to see these discussions become a reality because I think the world will be better because of it.

The Town Hall Dilemma

With the news that Barack Obama has failed to agree with John McCain on his proposal of a town-hall style debate offer, the revolutionary style of debate will most likely not be seen (in the proposed form) during this campaign cycle. While both campaigns may try to paint different pictures of why the debates failed there is one reason the debates failed: potential advantages.

First, John McCain could only benefit from having these debates with the free-air time it provides and the ability to link himself to any Obama news in the media. McCain has largely been an afterthought in this campaign as "the other guy" overshadowed most times by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Having these debates injects him back into the conversation and helps him compete with Obama who is leagues above him in fund raising prowess.

However Obama knows that when voters come out in November they will either reject Obama or support Obama, McCain will just be the other option. By keeping the focus on him he makes this November vote not an election but a referendum on himself. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out over the next few months.

The Death Of Tim Russert

I heard about the death of Tim Russert yesterday as a good deal of Americans did, through the Tom Brokaw regular program interruption. Throughout the day I watched the news and the different commentary some people provided. There were a few interesting stories shared especially by Bob Schieffer about how he enjoyed the Washington Nationals games he took in with Tim and how Tim had always been a loyal friend to Schieffer.

Campbell Brown, a CNN anchor, reflected on Tim's death by sharing how Russert had given her the first big break she had ever had at NBC and would give her help when she reported on Washington happenings. She described him in terms of a mentor figure and a true loyal friend.

When I reflect on Russert, two things come to mind. First was his interview style, as he would often make politicians, public figures and notable individuals squirm in their seats with his tough but fair style of questioning. He was very great at being able to ferret out the truth with a friendly and covert style. Secondly, Tim embodied outstanding journalism at its finest. He was able to ask both relevant and probing questions. His coverage of the 2000 election with the famous "white-board" was nothing short of amazing news-coverage. Tim you will be missed.

Interviews

Use this page to keep up to date on my interviews with elected officials, candidates, news makers, and anyone else of note.

1. Dale Glading

The Title Of The Blog

Some people may wonder how exactly I came about naming the blog "The American Portrait". Well it wasn't my first choice that was for sure! I had originally wanted to name my blog "The Ivory Tower", however after doing some researching I found out there was another blog with that similar title and I didn't want to be competing with the other site for confused and mis-directed visitors.

I came upon my current name because I wanted it to be something "reflective" of me. I settled on the idea of using the word portrait somewhere in the blog because I thought that was an interesting way to describe a snapshot not of someone's appearance, but of their writing.

I settled upon the name "The American Portrait" because I think of myself as an average 20-something United States citizen who just so happens to be competent at blogging. So in essence, the blog is really the portrait of an American.

American Portraits

Here you will find a collection of images taken by me that I find interesting and thought provoking. I've aptly named them "American Portraits" after the blog title. Or is the blog named after these pictures?


1. Flora Chloris
2. The Hoover Dam
3. Castle Neuschwanstein

About The Author

My name is Ryan and first of all I would like to thank you for visiting my site. The site is my ramblings (sometimes coherent) on politics, world events, news, sports and life in general. My vision for the site is that it will foster great intellectual conversation and will be able to enlighten anyone who visits the site.

To introduce myself further, I am a graduate of the University of Delaware (2008) and am employed by the United States as a civilian worker. I have been writing on blogs since prior to the 2004 election which was the spark plug for my interest in news, politics, and American life.

My interest include some things mainstream and some very far from the beaten path. I enjoy blogging (obviously), genealogy research, metal detecting (hunting for treasure on the beach), sports (tennis, hockey, baseball), reading (fiction mostly), Star Trek (yep I'm a trekkie), Marvel Comics, video games (Playstation, Gamecube, N64), bowling, CNN, history, pets, old coin collecting (I've got one from 1820!), and building bridges (between people, not actual bridges!).

My interest in politics started (as I mentioned) during the 2004 presidential election. I was a freshman at the University of Delaware and for the first time in my life I was starting to form ideas that weren't based on what my parents believed. They were my own ideas and as I began to explore them I realized that when I learned about the American political progress it was very easy to become passionate about it.

I think I can be best described as a "junkie" for enlightened thought. I do not mean this in an elitist way by any means but rather a love for the spread of knowledge. There is nothing more I love than getting into a debate with a friend over an issue and being able to respectfully argue and debate the points and be able to shake hands afterwards. Hopefully the site can infect you with the love I have for ideas and knowledge and create some sort of passion within you.