Since this is my first blog post on The Handle, I’d like to give everyone some background information on myself. I am a junior at Auburn University, majoring in Geology, and I was born and raised in Central Georgia. I am involved with The Handle because I have an interest in political affairs, current events, and cultural trends, both locally and globally, and I was fortunate enough to be named Cultural Editor. I am excited to be working and writing alongside everyone here and am looking forward to helping produce a stimulating and engaging experience for our readers. Having said that, it’s finals week here at Auburn, a stressful and trying time when the entire student body, including me, is hard at work studying. My last final is Thursday, after which I plan on devoting some time and energy to writing several articles, assuming I survive cumulative exams in Chemistry …
As it nears exam time for college students down here on the plains and all around the country, I thought it nice to give everyone a stress-relieving exam break in the form of another hilarious Obama-makes-some-jokes type video. The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is held every year in Washington D.C. Last year, if you will remember, President Obama was trading jokes and hobnobbing with journalists and public figures all while knowing a mission was underway to take out Osama bin Laden. This year, President Obama out did himself by even outshining the chaperone, Jimmy Kimmel. At the risk of turning this blog into the Obama laugh factory (I promise my next post will be different), I now give you President Obama’s segment of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that was held Saturday night: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IoVSbjmTZs[/youtube]
Featured Photo: “Steeple” in Auburn, AL Today is Photo Friday! Every Friday we will showcase a few photos from some of our photographers.[hr] Today’s theme: Where we’re from
Sign outside Google headquarters. Google has launched Google Drive, its new cloud storage service. Photo via brionv/Flickr Smart file management and transfer may seem unexciting, boring, and unnecessary. You’ve already got an ad hoc solution for saving your documents and school projects, and it’s built right into your email service, so why do anything different? You’re efficient enough, right? WRONG. STOP EMAILING YOURSELF. Perhaps the most common tech problem among students is one that goes rather unnoticed. What’s so frightening is that dozens of (really free!) solutions exist; yet only the minority of students take advantage. Google, Microsoft, and many others have developed cloud storage solutions that are very painless to use. USB flash drives are very cheap and simple alternatives, as well, but require you to keep up with, yet, more stuff… among all your other stuff. Listen, you could catch mice with your bare hands, but mousetraps are much more effective. …
Throughout the presidential campaign, I am going to keep track of Romney’s actions, and see how much he goes against the extremely conservative GOP base during the general election. The first one is Romney going against the House GOP when he supported the White House’s push to extend subsidized lower interest rates on federal loans. This is something he would have not been able to do during the primary, going directly against Republicans in the house. You can read more about it here. http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/04/romney-blunts-obama-attack-by-backing-lower-student-loan-rates.php He is also trying to distance himself from his former “informal” immigration advisor, Kris Kobach. Kobach, who is the Kansas Secretary of State, was one of the main architects of the tough anti-immigration laws that were passed in Arizona and Alabama. Romney has come out in support of Rubio’s version of the DREAM act, while Kobach has come out against it. Romney seems to be trying to distance himself from the tough anti-immigration rhetoric from the right, which is …
Photo: Post Office in Tecopa, CA – one of nearly 3700 USPS branches set to be closed in May. (source: Wikipedia Commons) It may seem like an egregious error to include the words “battle” and “Postal Service” near each other, but I assure you it isn’t. In fact, a bill passed by the Senate called the Postal Reform Bill may turn into a serious election issue, come November. The Senate passed legislation that will prevent approximately 3700 rural post offices and many postal sorting facilities from being closed down. In a recession like the one the United States is facing now, it seems compulsory to do whatever you can to prevent the loss of 200,000 decent paying jobs. House republicans have a different opinion on the matter though. Rep. Darryl Issa of California, for instance, says that the bill is unacceptable and will be dead on arrival in the …