To be clear, I love guns. I own all the Rambo movies. If it weren’t such an expensive and impractical hobby, I would probably own lots of guns. What I’m not crazy about is being shot by people with guns. And I find little comfort in laws that promise strict penalties against people who commit gun violence. After all, it won’t make me any less dead. Gun ownership is a part of American culture for many people. Some kids learn… Read more

Earlier this month, voters in Brazil elected illiterate clown Francisco Everardo Oliveira  Silva “Tiririca” to their Congress. And no, that wasn’t a jocular insult. Silva actually works as a clown and is unable to read. He beat out the second-place finisher by more than double the votes using a campaign slogan of: “It can’t get any worse.” When things are bad here in the U.S., we all love to blame the government. It’s easy, legal, and often times legitimate. But… Read more

Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity comes to our nation’s capital on Oct. 30.  I’d like to take this opportunity to lay my political cards on the table. I am what you would call a radical moderate. I’m sure many people consider that to be an oxymoron and I think that’s sad. Now I’m normally not a big fan of protesters. My philosophy is, if you don’t like what the government is doing, try voting next time. But for too… Read more

Republican Meg Whitman has been touting her experience as chief executive officer of eBay as her primary qualification to be governor of California. But being a CEO does not necessary equal success in politics. Let’s take a look at the top five worst businesspeople turned politician of the past 10 years. 5. Carly Fiorina Coming in at number five on our list is Carly Fiorina (R–CA). This former CEO of Hewlett-Packard was forced out of her job in 2005 after… Read more

Aaron Helmbrecht When we think of an eating disorder, most of us might conjure up an image of a privileged Caucasian woman with nothing else to worry about but her vanity. And in some instances that might be the case. But if that is the public image of an eating disorder, then entire groups of people have been forced into obscurity. The face of an eating disorder is the 3rd grade girl who skips lunch because she’s on a diet…. Read more

Aaron Helmbrecht Contributing reporter California had already long since been in a state of economic turmoil when the country was hit by the 2008 recession. In 2003, we recalled our governor for the first time over economic mismanagement and a majority of us thought it was a good idea to elect the Terminator. But apparently Arnold isn’t from the future or he would have seen what was coming. Unemployment in California is 2.4 percent above the national average and our… Read more

By: Aaron Helmbrecht Contributing reporter Now that the health care reform bill appears to be in its final stages, what are we getting? Will it achieve the objectives set out by President Obama: lower costs and improve coverage and efficiency? While I admit I have not read the whole 2,074 page bill, I have researched it extensively and have put together the good, the bad, and the yet to be determined of our once and future health care system. Good:… Read more

Aaron Helmbrecht CSUN operated in the midst of an approximately $41 million budget cut in the Fall 2009 semester, which led to cutbacks, including faculty furlough days, class cancellations, and tuition and fee increases. In response, students and faculty held numerous protest rallies and created video petitions venting their frustration at Sacramento. All of these efforts materialized into absolutely nothing. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has promised additional, “across-the-board,” cuts in January in response to the new projected state budget deficit of… Read more

A CSUN conference about the different views on Iran and Iranian women was held yesterday in the Oviatt Library presentation room in an attempt to make students more aware of the discrimination towards women in Iran.