The engine is running, and my clammy hands grip the wheel as I slowly press the accelerator. My mom, who’s sitting next to me, gives a small yell of fright as I swerve out of the way of a tree on the side of the road. Suddenly, there’s a crash, and when we get out of the car, the whole front is smashed through—the tree, however is completely unharmed. I have officially destroyed the family SUV.
This is how I have always imagined my first time behind the wheel.
I’ve always been scared of the whole concept of driving. It isn’t that I’ve been in any major accidents or have any other serious reasons to fear getting behind the wheel, but it’s more that I think that I will crash. This makes me feel even more pressure while driving, or doing something similar to it.
Recently, California passed a proposition that bans same-sex marriage, though it had been previously deemed legal by the California Supreme Court in a ruling that was valid for 173 days.
In the recent election, millions of Californians voted not only for Sen. John McCain or Barack Obama, but also for the many state government propositions. At the top of the list was Proposition 1A, an act that would build a gargantuan railway system throughout California. The goal of the super-railway was to provide means for more efficient transportation in the state and to bolster the failing economy by creating new jobs. When the votes were tallied at the end of the day, Proposition 1A passed, ushering in a new era of improved public transportation.
Following the debacle of Florida in the 2000 presidential election and the close call in Ohio in 2004, many were relieved to see Barack Obama elected without controversy. The fact is that the Electoral College has continually caused problems for voters and the recent elections only further show that voting reform is necessary.
This year, colleges in the United States have been scouting and recruiting prospective students in China and other countries. At math contests and other competitions, high-performing teens have been offered scholarships to prestigious private colleges in the United States. Harvard, one of the schools most prominently recruiting, is hoping to boos¬t its reputation in the math and science departments.
It was the celebratory night of the 1996 re-election of President Clinton when one of his strategists decided enough was enough. Slamming a steak knife into the table, he shouted, “Die, die, die!” as he rattled off the names of former enemies of newly-elected President Clinton. Earlier, he had gleefully mailed a dead fish to an estranged coworker. And as of this January, he will be the chief of staff to the president. Watch out, McCain—Rahmbo may have you next on his hit list.
Sarah Palin: an average blue-collar hockey/soccer mom, a PTA president and a parent of five kids. Could she really have been vice president of one of the world’s largest leading powers with her lack of qualifications?
Palin clearly served as an example of the “average Joe” and proved that commonfolk cannot assume the huge responsibility of running the United States. She demonstrated that “Average Joes” possess an enormous lack of political experience and education necessary for the American presidency to make informed decisions for the benefit of the country. The president has no room for mistakes at all—he or she must have the ability to solve international and domestic problems in the quickest and most pragmatic way possible.
According to CNN, pirates are still real. No, I don’t mean the weak and pathetic Internet pirates. Off the coast of Somalia, pirates have seized a Ukrainian cargo ship. Inside the ship is a treasure of weapons: Soviet-made T-72 tanks, tank artillery shells, grenade launchers and small arms—and they’re demanding a 20 million dollar ransom in return for the crew.
With the Bush administration coming to a merciful close Jan. 20, one would envision a smooth ride out of the tunnel of decrepit financial policies, steady decline in individual liberties and unnecessary war that has encapsulated the last eight morbid years. But alas, the engine has sputtered one last time as, in one of his final acts as commander-in-chief, Bush has feebly strung together a deal with North Korea that appears shortsighted at best and significantly detrimental to American efforts in that region at worst. Given the President’s track record, the latter seems more likely.
In the last weeks of the presidential election, network TV stories on Democratic candidate Barack Obama were 36 percent positive and 29 percent negative; by contrast, coverage of Republican candidate John McCain was a whopping 57 percent negative and 14 percent positive, according to a new study published by the Pew Research Center.
This perceived bias has caused many to question whether the media had an unfair influence in this election. The statistics clearly point in this direction. According to a Harvard University analysis, 72 percent of Americans said that the press is politically biased in favor of liberals.