There are many voices shouting in the world. Unfortunately, the ones being heard are degrading our society. It's time for the good people to stand up and use their voices. Now is not the time for complacency. I'm a college student giving a voice to our generation. Are we too scared to take a stand? Do we value popularity over doing what’s right? Make the correct decision starting today. Let your voice be heard.
This is totally unsolicited, I know. But I've gotta spread the word. My friends and I entered an iPhone app development competition hosted at BYU by Omniture. Our entry in the competition is called March Mayhem and it's available for free in the App Store. The app gives you live scores, news, and bracket info for March Madness right on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Applications are judged by how many unique users they have over two weeks, ending next Sunday.
Then just open the app (while connected to the internet) periodically during the next two weeks.
I would appreciate all of your help. If you don't have an iPhone or iPod Touch (I don't blame you, they're expensive), tell your friends who do! Please spread the word!
A new political blog/site is launching today. It's called Blurt Daily. It's going live today with a post about politics and rock and roll. Would you please follow the link to digg.com and "digg" the post? Then continue onto the site and read it for yourself. Trying to spread the word about the new site. I imagine many of you will find it interesting.
Politics and Rock and Roll:Why do musicians flock to socialist politicians when rock and roll is all about less control and more freedom to do it yourself (DIY)? Politics has a marketing problem.
This morning I received an email from Yes on Prop 8 announcing the new TV commercial. I watched the video and then hopped on YouTube where I found a bunch of other videos. I wanted to pass on links to the videos so you can check them out for yourself if you want.
Yes on Prop 8 Commerical. They've raised $8 million so far, but are looking to raise another $3.6 million to finish development of more commercials and buy airtime for them. They don't have deep pockets like Brad Pitt, who donated to No on Prop 8. https://www.icontribute.us/protectmarriage/initiative/firstademail
Newt Gingrich compares the judges who overturned Prop 22 to the judges our founding fathers fought against in the 1700s. "Taxation without representation." We're fighting it again, but this time within our country. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73Q4V8WNF6k
Colorado video: Obama says he will repeal the Defense on Marriage Act if elected president. Thanks, man. I appreciate you and others who feel that the majority vote isn't important enough to support. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f-P4RVDMe0&NR=1
For those of you living in California, get out there and vote. For those of you not in California, spread the word and encourage those you know in California to get out and vote.
John McCain spoke in Houston today about his plans on energy and reducing our dependency on foreign oil. I found what he said to be reasonable and a good start for the major problem we have.
As expected, Democrats came back with criticism, because...that's what you do in politics. I welcome criticism if it actually has substance. However, this time around, they were complaining just for the sake of complaining. Here's what they said:
"Rather than offering consumers real relief from skyrocketing energy prices, Sen. McCain's plan would merely pad Big Oil's bottom line while putting thousands of miles of pristine beaches and coastline at risk," Sierra Club president Carl Pope said.
Yes, please...let's protect the pristine beaches where only the wealthy can afford homes, while Mrs. Clarke in Detroit foots the bill at the gas pump. Come on. If you're going to argue, have a valid point. If not, accept the fact that people in a different political party can actually come up with a good idea. (By the way, McCain's speech addressed this, stating that the apparent "risk" to beaches has proven to be much lower than it has been in the past.) And really, though, that argument is pretty dang shallow. You care more about a beach than helping millions of Americans stave off a recession? Do Democrats care more about people or pristine beaches?
Africa needs to stop blaming colonization for it´s problems. Sure, bad things happened in the past. Well...get over it and improve your future.
Armando Guebuza, President of Mozambique, said exactly that at a conference in Tanzania yesterday. Here´s the full article. I´m glad to see that he has that attitude. He wants to build technical schools throughout Mozambique to give citizens a skill that can help build the country. However, before anything remarkable can happen, Africans everywhere need a "change of attitude."
Read the whole article for yourself, it's inspiring:
I currently attend a top ranked business school. Our accounting program is ranked #2 nationally and our MBA program was just ranked #1 for Regional Schools and #2 for Emphasis on Ethics by the Wall Street Journal. We've received plenty of praise and recognition over the years and continue to expand our school both in class sizes and physical size. Sounds like we've got everything figured out, right? Ummm...if you consider blatant racial slams as good things, then yes...we're firing on all cylinders.
I'm referring to two comments made in a Project Management class I have. Let me give you the two incidents and then I'll tell why they're so disturbing to me.
Incident #1
The first one was made while talking about our professor's experience when he studied accounting in Mexico. Our professor said, "Upon returning to the States, I found that Mexican accounting differed greatly from US accounting." A student in the front row blurted out, "Yeah. No more five finger discounts."
Incident #2
We were discussing task duration estimates when creating a project schedule. A student (from Mexico) asked the question, "What happens when people lie about the time it will take them." To which a different student in the front row responded, "Juan, we're not in Mexico."
What? Where did those comments come from? Now I'd like to tell you a bit about the two students who made those comments. Both are white males in their mid to late 20's. Both likely served "missions" for our Church, probably to a foreign country. And last of all, both are MBA students at our school which is, again, ranked #2 for "Emphasis on Ethics."
So, it's not so much the content of the comments that has me flabbergasted, it's the setting in which they were made that astounds me. Here we are, a school that teaches tolerance, a school where students speak over 40 different languages, and our students are making ignorant racial comments like this in class?! How can they get away with it?
Simple. We live in a bubble. This school is predominantly one religion and one race. All those "different languages" are spoken by American students who served religious missions abroad. If you look at the dominant race, we're almost all white. Our culture here is non-confrontational, so even if people were extremely pissed about what they said, they'd never do anything about it. Take those two students and put them in a class at UCLA. They would have been torn to shreds! Man, these two guys are in for a rude awakening when they get out of the bubble here.
If you look beyond the campus, you won't find much hope. Recently one of our state senators made a stupid remark that was perceived as racist. While debating an education bill, Senator Chris Buttars commented, "This baby is black, I'll tell you. This is a dark, ugly thing." .... ..... To make things worse, he agreed to meet with the NAACP to smooth things over, but when they called the press to be at the meeting, Buttars stood them up. Oh that's real smart. Slam a person's racial background, and then skip out on their organizational leaders. Why don't you call up one of your old girlfriends, ask her out on a makeup date, and then have one of your buddies show up in your place and throw a pie in her face.
For an example of how to do this, see the following clip from Never Been Kissed. Start the clip at 2:45.
Sidenote: The guy from the NAACP said something ludicrous as well. (Luda!) Someone made a remark about "lynchings." The guy said, "He doesn't know anything about lynchings. We know about real lynchings." Ummmm....every black person I've ever met (and I lived in Africa for two years) knows just as much about lynching as I do...that it's wrong and is something we read about in history books.
Back from the sidenote, it sucks that we demand a high standard from our aspiring students and yet they have idiotic examples running the government. Chris Buttars is running for reelection, by the way. I've heard this isn't his first time embarrassing his state.
I sincerely hope that the other MBA students at our school have more class than these three. If not, then our program is in for some real problems.
You are an employer looking to fill a managerial position. This position is very important and has a long list of required skills the applicant needs to have. The job description changes depending on the work environment as it stands now and as it will stand in the near future. The description you post is as follows:
Understand the economy and improve it
Deal with immigration issues
Secure lives against radical Islamic attacks
Balance an out-of-control budget
Fire counter-productive employees who do more harm than good
Protect the company's reputation, especially regarding war
After writing these requirements down, you list the most important one.
Must possess leadership experience and be able to take counsel from advisers
That last skill is the key. That is why Mitt Romney makes a far better president than John McCain. They each have their strong points in the skills listed above. However, when Mitt Romney falls short in areas like terrorism, he knows how to listen to advisers. He has vast experience looking at the facts, listening to educated opinions, and then making a sound decision to move forward.
He doesn't need to know everything, he just needs to know where to find out the right information.
John McCain always touts how much he knows about dealing with terrorists. However, he never talks about the economy (until recently), because it's not his strong area. He's never had any executive experience, either, so his track record of seeking counsel from advisers is unproven in the real world.
What do we do then? Both of these men should end up in the White House, just in different roles.
As an employer, I would hire Mitt Romney on the spot. He has the experience and, where he lacks, knows where to seek advice.
As for John McCain, I wouldn't turn him away. I would offer him a position in the cabinet. Since his greatest quality is dealing with terrorists, let's stick him in an advisory role dealing with homeland security.
I don't know why Republicans all over America aren't grasping this concept. They are both great men. One does have a better on-screen presence (McCain). However, when it comes to filling the position with a qualified individual, Romney is the hands-down winner.
On Super Tuesday, vote for Mitt Romney. Don't cast your vote for John McCain. Put Mitt Romney in the Oval Office and he will assemble a team of all-stars that fill in his gaps. (Captain Planet comes to mind. "Wind....water....earth...." Okay...earth was always the lamest element. They should have picked a cooler one, like "Lava.")
Please, pass this story along to your friends, put it on your blog, post it on Facebook, digg it, email it, forward it...everything. I want to get this message out there!
