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.