The Next Great Rock Ballad?

Check out the video before you continue reading..
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Now, i am of opinion, among the great rock ballads,these are the creme de la creme...

1) Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"

2) The Beatle's "The Ballad of John and Yoko"

3) Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird"


I have more actually, but these three are songs i can sing to and listen to over and over and over again.

And now, I have a new addition to the list:

MUSE's "Knights of Cydonia"

And by the way, that was a LIVE performance, that's just how good this band is.


Cheers Mates!

Matrix

Peace Protests are Bullshit

Okay, i have a confession,

This post is not 100% original. The core ideas here are from a TV show called Penn & Teller's Bullshit. These chaps are realists and talk on controversial and social issues in a show filled with profanity, but get this.....they are absolutely spot on most of the time.

Now on the post proper:

Peace protests are bullshit:

yes, i was wondering the same thing

Now, you'd have to be an incarnation of Hitler orPolpot to not want peace. That being said, this post is not out to slander peace, its out to slander the people who think they are helping to acheive world peace via protest.

Its not the protest per say, its the way people go about it. With an idealistic mentality. That protests, candle light vigils and so on are actually going to bring about peace in the world.

What it merely does is (if it even manages to do so) is to PERSUADE the politicians in Congress to take measures to start the peace process.And ultimately, they are going to not take you seriously because, lets face it, you aren't helping them with a peace plan by just shouting on the streets with banners.....though i do admit, the protests about impeaching Bush have to be taken seriously.


And come on, who's going to take you seriously when you come and try to make a point dressed up like this:

Code Pink Organisation : Women For Peace

These people are absolutely bullshit. On their website they advertise for donations for memorial donations in honor of their co-founder, walk to congressmen's offices dressed up in pink with ridiculous pink foam crowns, and have POTLUCK meetings every Wednesday at a house they own.

HOW THE HELL IS THIS SUPPOSED TO ACHIEVE WORLD PEACE?

If this is the way peace is going to be achieved, the forgive me, the world must be filled with like minded pink loving hippies high on marijuana.

Because who the fuck is going to take you seriously? If you're marching for world peace in general with large and loud banners proclaiming:

Way to go, captain obvious....

.........you seriously are going to get nowhere. You have to be pretty naive to assume you can stop a war raging in Rwanda by protesting on comfy streets in New York. As honorable as it may seem, its pointless. There are more effective and quieter ways to work towards world peace.

What these protests achieve at most is a certain degree of empathy and sympathy. If you're looking for policy change for world peace, it is impossible.

because realistically speaking,

NO ONE COUNTRY CAN MAKE THE WORLD A MORE PEACEFUL PLACE AND STOP WARS EVERYWHERE WITH PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL POLICY CHANGES........

Even the UN has failed to do what it was set up in 1945 to do. The most it has done is to send in TROOPS in troubles spots. Way to go! Nice way to stop a war.

what a peace process has come to be viewed as...it sickens me

Run for congress and try to get some public policies out which make going to war more difficult. Have mass rallies for the politicians or representatives gunning for peace. Or better, start an awareness newsletter or magazine which informs the people to vote out War-Mongers from Cabinet next election.

Penn & Teller rubbished all peace protests and gave what they thought was a solution to world peace, which i agree with.


FREE TRADE AND BUSINESS


It worked for Britain and France. Two countries, used to chopping each other up. Now they trade in Euros with one another, are dependent on each other for trade and business, even though the French pretty much still have the Brits and vice versa.

Malaysia ans Singapore are not at war already because Singapore relies on Malaysia for water, food manufacturing and BRAINS, while Malaysia relies on Singapore for its oil refineries.

The US does consider going to war with Iran and North Korea as they don;t rely on these nations for anything, except for the oil in Iran, which they're not getting anyway and want so badly, war is a good idea.

I don't start fights with my neighbours because good relationships benefit me. It enables me to trade my large collection of GOOD MUSIC for their collection of DVD QUALITY MOVIES.

Stop embargoing unstable nations and engage in free trade with them....make them DEPENDENT on the world so much so that they won't dare stir up trouble in case of later embargos which WILL hurt them.

Because quite frankly, a trade embargo on self sufficient Iran is a fool's errand. They have allies to trade with in the Middle East. Now, if free trade was more open wiht direct trading with the West instead of making policies which force them to get Western goods through the middle men in the pro US middle east nations, the world won't have such problems.

It is not an honorable way of achieving peace. Does not have the selflessness and romantic ring to it which candlelight vigils and mourning has, but it is the most effective.

Of Governance

A government can only be judged by its effectiveness in governing....not by its policies.

This must be an about turn for me in my "anti-Kuan Yew-governing style". Truth be told, i would support even a government with socialistic policies if those policies do indeed work.

Allow me to explain before you start yapping (am going to assume you're an American reading this and is all gung-ho about protecting and upholding Democracy".

You see, as painful as it is for to say this, Singapore has got things right and Malaysia simply has not. Lets take education for instance. Back home we have like...ermm...20 or so universities? Out of which the top three so to speak are University Malaya(UM), University Kebangsaan Malaysia(UKM) and University Teknologi Malaysia(UTM). If there are more, please enlighten me, because i don;t really care at the moment.

Private colleges and unis do not count.

These so called top three have world rankings as follow:

University Malaya - 192

University Kebangsaan Malaysia - 185

University Teknologi Malyaysia - not in the top 200....


Now, Singapore only has 4 major universities, and their world rankings are such:

National University of Singapore - 19

Nanyang Technological University - 61..lol, we have a lot of catching up to do...

Singapore Management University - no idea...management unis are not on the list....and its semi private.


World Engineering School Rankings

National University Of Singapore - 8 (ahead of Cal Tech and Carnegie Mellon)

Nanyang Technological University - 15 (ahead of Cornell, Georgia Tech and Princeton)

Links: Times Higher Education

World Engineering Rankings


And here's the thing...the government is still pumping in cash and setting up labs (I can get one here for myself if i have a good research project) and trying to draw in top researchers with bucketloads of cash.....

Its a rather bullish was of going about things, but hey...its got the unis somewhere....and i got to meet a few nobel laureates in the process......

Shall not digress aymore....

The reason i am feeling a bit supportive of Singapore at the moment is their meritocracy policy, particularly when it comes to education and career opportunities. Bottom line is, if you're good, you're in.

Its the reason the top students from the region, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia come here. STPM's top 3 scorers are here on scholarships......and what has Malaysia done to retain these brains?

NOTHING....not even a JPA scholarship with a bond period of 8 years with the government with shitty pay....as compared to singapore's paltry 3 years......with a PRIVATE company locally or a Singaporean based company overseas.......and we're talking about Malaysia's top pre-U students, not regular SPM scorers.

.....and i kid you not....the Indonesians are bloody brilliant. These are the chaps who come through accelerated programs and from special science education...by which i mean, these guys are trained and groomed for Physics, Math and Biology Olympiad competitions....and some of them are gold medal winners.....


Take this guy for example. Name's Edbert Jarvis Sie, from Indonesia. A Physics Olympiad competitor, and he's so bloody good at what he does, he started TA-ing (teaching assistant) a few physics classes in his 3rd and final year. Currently, he's made a research fellow (maybe an assistant research fellow, not too sure) and he TA's Quantum Mechanics classes for year 2 physics undergraduates.

These are the sort of people Singapore head-hunts and takes in, while their own nations don't give them the opportunities.

Truth be told, Kuan Yew politics is not democracy. The Lee family controls the main ruling party (common knowledge...not explicitly acknowledged), and Temasek Holdings is wealthy mainly due to Lee's political connections.......

But here's the thing, no politician is a Mother Theresa, a selfless sould working solely for the people. You want a leader like that....go to a monastery.

The issue here is, among all the politicians making a little on the side (a lot in Lee's case), Kuan Yew has given back the most to a nation. He has created within 50 years what Malaysia or any other country in the region has failed to do....
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......that is to create a country for the opportunist and the smart, where meritocracy is the way to go, where despite lack of much freedon of expression and stringent laws and censorship, one need not worry about the color of his skin nor his background in order to make it big....just a lot of brains and wit.....
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.....to create a nation with top notch education and brains.....


Singaporeans have a lot of complains, but i do urge you...take a step back, look beyond the censorship ad government control and look at what you have.....

A military research agency which has the smarts to come up with this......

Bionix 2-Armoured Fighting Vechicle

Truth be told, its nowhere near the American's M1 Abrams nor the European's Leapord Tanks, but this......thing......came from a nation independent for less than 50 years.

In 50 years, Singapore has become a quality education hub, is poised to be a research hub, has a well connected public transport system, is drawing in brains from Asia and is one of the safest countries to walk about in...even at 2am in the morning.

They have an ongoing research into water technologies (a polite way of saying they turn what come out of you in the mornings to what you drink at night)....and this tech is being copied and used in the Middle East and Europe.

Not to mention they have caught up with Malaysia and are having a F1 race this Friday.

All this in 50 years!!!!!.....by one chap!!!!!

I am of opinion that Kuan Yew is dangerous. A guy who thinks he alone knows whats good for a nation and just carries out policies with disregard to citizen input into decision making is dangerous...but get this.....HE'S GOT THINGS RIGHT!!!!

And as painful as it is, i must admit, the same cannot be said of Malaysia or any other nation in the region for that matter. The closest we have was Mahatir, but even he could not do what Kuan Yew has done...and most of his development policies on focused on Selangor. Paltry and please don't give the bullshit reason that Singapore is waaay smaller. Size of a nation is poor excuse for lousy governance.

We may have more press freedom, but that is quickly disappearing....more explicitly these days with arrests of reporters and bloggers.....and the misuse of the ISA (Internal Security Act) the latest casualty being a man i respect for his outright way of speaking.....Raja Petra Kamarudin. Detained for 2 years WITHOUT trial.....just cos he's an anti-government blogger.

You know things are bad back home when everyone wants to vote for a chap who strikes me as smart.....yet has an air of dishonesty about him. Anwar my friends, may seem like a saviour at the moment, but i do not trust him 100% even though he does at the moment represent meritocracy and racial equality at the moment.

The general metality among young brains at the moment is to get out of Malaysia while the going is good. To seek opprtunity in a neighbour whose cash greased hands grasp ours warmly, offering us a smile of meritocracy and equality.

This is what we want which our homes have failed to provide.


Cheers and enjoy the week!

Matrix

I

Tagged

Tagged by Karam

Rules: 1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves
3. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they got tagged and to ask them to play and read your blog

Starting time: 11.49pm
Name: Yuvaraman Viswanathan
Sisters:1
Brothers:1
Shoe size:9
Height:180cm
Where do you live:Singapore

Favourite drinks: water....drunk everyday

Favourite breakfast: Bread lathered with Nutella and milk
Have you ever been on a plane: Yeah
Swam in the ocean: paddled is more like it
Fallen asleep at school:yes
Broken some one's heart: no idea

Fallen off your chair: yeah

Saved e-mails: Yes
What is your room like: dusty but cosy.....go figure
What's right beside you: water bottle and loads of books
What is the last thing you ate: noodles

Ever Had
Chicken pox: nope
Sore throat: yeap

Stitches: yeap

Broken nose: no

Do you Believe in love at first sight: not at the moment
Like picnics: Yes
Who was/were the last person
You danced with: If you consider mass dancing on a dance floor...probably with a whole bunch of ppl during Taylor's Prom night.....which sucked by the way.
Last made you smile: Ming Han and Caleb (A Level pals)

Today did you

Talk to someone you like: yes....what's not to like about friends?

Kissed anyone: Nope

Get sick : Nope
Talk to an ex: don't have one

Miss someone: not really

Eat: yes
Best feeling in the world: When I win

Do you sleep with stuffed animals: No..
What's under your bed: the floor

Who do you really hate: no one
What time is it now: 11.56pm

Random
Is there a person who is on your mind now: yup
Do you want children: not sure
Do you smile often: yeah

Do you like your hand-writing: yes !!

Are your toe nails painted: no

Whose bed other than yours would you rather sleep in: my roomie's...combine both beds and use it as one large on :P

What color shirt are you wearing now: Purple
What were you doing at 7:00 p.m. yesterday: studying for a Fluid Mechanics quiz

When did you cry last: Don;t remember
Are you a friendly person: Yes

Do you have any pets: yes

Where is the person you have feelings for right now: somewhere
Did you hold hands with the person who means anything to you now: nope

Do you sleep with the TV on: no

What are you doing right now: typing

Have you ever crawled through a window: yes

Can you handle the truth: yeah

Are you too forgiving: yeap

Are you closer to your mother or father: both

Who was the last person you cried in front of: no one
How many people can you say you've really loved: my family is kind of big
Do you eat healthy: yes

Do you still have pictures of you & your ex: what ex?
Have you ever cried because of something someone said to you: nah
Are you loud or quiet most of the time: bit of both

Are you confident:
5 things I was doing 10 years ago
1. living

2.eating

3. sleeping

4. playing

5.drinking....duh

5 things on my to-do list
1. go to Old Trafford and watch Man Utd play Liverpool

2. become a billionaire...and then get a room filled with chocolates

3. go home and eat good hokkien mee

4. create an AI powered biomechanical suit like Iron Man's

5. get a six pack

5 snacks I enjoy
1. Nutella

2. softbaked cookies

3. chocolates

4. good ice cream

5. apam balik

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire
1. build a large room....and fill it with chocolates

2. Buy a Bugatti Veyron

3. Build a 20 km private track for my Bugatti Veyron

4. fund research into AI (artificial intelligence)

5. bail out US insurance companies and claim an 80% stake in them

5 of my bad habits
1. sneeze too loudly

2. overconfidence

3.carelessness

4. always wants to win and hate losing

5. expect a high standard in work quality from team mates in projects.....and gets pissed when they don't deliver.

Quantum of Solace (2008) Trailer 2

This trailer is better than the first one. Shows the Bond girl properly.

Soundtracks and car chase scenes look better than Casino Royale (of course, it did sicken me to see that lovely Aston getting totalled in Royale)

Enjoy!

Matrix

Blue October - Hate Me

Roomie reintroduced me to this song. Now, i don;t really care much for the meaning behind the song, only go for the tunes, but this is one with lyrics that actually tells a story. Enjoy!

Lyrics


I have to block out thoughts of you so I don’t lose my head
They crawl in like a cockroach leaving babies in my bed
Dropping little reels of tape to remind me that I’m alone
Playing movies in my head that make a porno feel like home
There's a burning in my pride, a nervous bleeding in my brain
An ounce of peace is all I want for you. Will you never call again?
And will you never say that you love me just to put it in my face?
And will you never try to reach me?
It is I that wanted space

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what’s good for you

I’m sober now for 3 whole months it’s one accomplishment that you helped me with
The one thing that always tore us apart is the one thing I won’t touch again
In a sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night
While I was busy waging wars on myself, you were trying to stop the fight
You never doubted my warped opinions on things like suicidal hate
You made me compliment myself when it was way too hard to take
So I’ll drive so fucking far away that I never cross your mind
And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn’t do for you

Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what’s good for you

And with a sad heart I say bye to you and wave
Kicking shadows on the street for every mistake that I had made
And like a baby boy I never was a man
Until I saw your blue eyes cry and I held your face in my hand
And then I fell down yelling “Make it go away!”
Just make a smile come back and shine just like it used to be
And then she whispered “How can you do this to me?”

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn’t do for you

Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what’s good for you
For you
For you
For you

Cheers from,

Matrix

My my, which country is next?

"According to U.S. officials, President George W. Bush secretly approved orders in July that allowed U.S. Special Operations Forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the prior approval of the Pakistani government. A flurry of missile strikes inside Pakistan from American pilotless aircraft and the first publicly acknowledged ground operation by U.S. Special Operations Forces against Taliban operating inside Pakistan this month have caused grave concern in Pakistan."

-International Herald Tribune Online-


Which by the way makes me wonder.......which country is next on the hit list? Maybe Bush will find some Taliban kernels within South Korea . Maybe he'll find bin Laden crouched under Kim Jong's table and order a convenient air strike from his Global Hawks?

"Die die Osama!!!!! I'm sorry to say Kim Jong's death is collateral damage and is unrelated to our anti North Korea Going Nuclear policy"- George Walker Bush

Who knows? Maybe the next time your desk blows up, its probably cause the Taliban had bought it online from Ikea and resold it on Ebay form where you bought it. Knowing Bush's paranoia, he'd take the bait.

That being the case, who needs a damn suicide bomber when you can select targets anywhere using Broadband. They would need good marketing skills however to make sure the target buys the stuff of course.

"Buy this new lamp! Guaranteed to improve your Feng Shui!!!!!!", say if they want to take out Lillian Too and her supporters.

Lillian Too supporters are soo dead if they buy tickets for this show from an online website called "As cheap as hell"

Cheers mates!

Matrix

Wishlist

Righto,

Was walking back to my room on friday with Audrey and Boon Chong (NTU pals), when i got into one of those fantasy modes..........probably cos i had watched Iron Man TWICE that week on my laptop.

Tony Stark is cool and Gwyneth Paltrow was wow.....period

Honestly though, I never fancied Paltrow ever until this movie. Pepper Potts, an ultra professional, smart with a soft spot under the business look was scarily quite appealing. I do admit, I do find women with brains, women who can ACTUALLY debate on politics and challenge me intellectually on any topic quite attractive.

*cough*

Ok, back to the post.

So i have finally decided what i want to do with my future billions. By which i mean the part of the billions not put into some high flying portfolios, invested in bonds or whatever new wealth management plans out there at the moment (I admit, i am not financially savvy, apart from the fact that yes, when you're rich, get a wealth management consultant to start getting your unused billions to earn you more billions, instead of letting the cash devalue itself....inflation is a killer these days)

Ok...no more digressing...

I will have a red brickwork villa with white lattic windows on a cliff overlooking a lovely blue sea somewhere in New Zealand or the British Isles. Or even Canada.....i like their universal health care.

The house will have 10 square Kms of land, enough space for me to build at least 10km of track to open up my Bugatti Veyron on.......cause there is the possibility i might not get a driving license, ergo, the need for an in house track.

My home will be monitored by an AI software like Jarvis which Tony Stark has. It will be platform independent, and can run on anything i want it to, my new Mac Pcs or my flying suit.



YES.......I will have a flying suit. Just because its cool. And hey, i might want to go spelunking one day, it might come in handy for.....ermm..........flying in caves when i get too lazy to crawl.

My garage will house 3 categories of vehicles. Sports cars, luxury cars, and motorbikes XDXDXD
I will have a Bugatti Veyron, a Jaguar XK, an Aston Martin Vanquish, a Porsche 911 Carerra GT and a BMW M3 ..........at the very least.

And for everyday driving, i would need at least a Bentley Arnage Red Lable, because i think Rolls Royce is a bit too common.........

Of course, if space is a problem, the garage will be underground. And yes, the Aston Martin will have machine guns coming out of its bonnet.....cause i think its cool too, and i can shoot........................................stuff........like....erm.......Badawi or Najib, if they come nosing around.

I will have at least one cordon bleau chef with me at all times, plus my mom, cos i love her cooking.

OH, and definitely this will be in.........
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A room filled with chocolates. Its smart too. Jarvis will track my chocolate consumption and based on my rate of consumption of certain brands, will tailor the selection automatically via online ordering of chocs which match my tongue.

And the choc room will be configured with a teleportation device calibrated to teleport anywhere within the house. Depending on my consumption rate, to keep me from dying of diabetes or high blood cholestrol related maladies, the room will be teleported away to some hidden spot everytime i want to eat chocs, so i will get exercise when looking for the room, thus allowing me to eat guilt free XD.

Okies, now back to Fluid Mechanics,

Cheers from

The Matrix

Happy Birthday Hsien Hooi!!!!!!!!

I know, i know,

Its now 12.27am, am actually 27 mins late in doing this post.

*ahem*

HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY LEE HSIEN HOOI aka Victor!!!!!!!

Actually on knew this chap really well from Form 3 onwards. Lives very close to my home after moving in Form 5. Very helpful and considerate chap with something a lot of people lack nowadays...common courtesy.

So, here's to you mate!


Enjoy the week!

Matrix

Obama for President

Lets set something straight here.

Bush is has the IQ level of a mentally retarded hamster.

Now that's put aside, lets see who's next in the hot seat.......

Obama *cheers*

Mc Cain *not so much cheer...the residual one is from the part of America with bright red necks*

Okay, so a lot of people have been going on and on about how Obama is so much better than Mc Cain and bla bla bla.....

Quite frankly i am getting a little tired of people just saying "Oh hey, I like Obama cos he's like so different and Mc Cain is ...well.....a Republican"

So, time for a bit of education. You want to know how to spot a good president? Ignore their campaigns and take a good hard look at their history.

"John S. McCain and George Walked Bush grew up in tandem, both favoured third generation sons of prominent Washington families, accustomed to power and wealth and influence. Both were poor students and pranksters and both were drinkers as young men" - Time

"Bush attended the all-boys school Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where he played baseball and during his senior year was the head cheerleader. Following in his father's footsteps, Bush attended Yale University, where he received a Bachelor's degree in history in 1968. As a college senior, Bush became a member of the secretive Skull and Bones society. By his own characterization, he was an average student"-Wikipedia

On Barack Obama.....

"Following high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles, where he studied at Occidental College for two years.^[9] He then transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations.^[10] Obama graduated with a B.A. from Columbia in 1983, then worked for a year at the Business International Corporation^[11] and then at the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Obama entered Harvard Law School in late 1988 and at the end of his first year was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review based on his grades and a writing competition.^[18] In his second year he was elected president of the Law Review, a full-time volunteer position functioning as editor-in-chief and supervising the law review's staff of 80 editors.^[19] Obama's election in February 1990 as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review was widely reported and followed by several long, detailed profiles.^[19] He graduated with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) magna cum laude from Harvard in 1991 and returned to Chicago where he had worked as a summer associate at the law firms of Sidley & Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990." Wikipedia

In a nutshell, when even Wikipedia is struggling to find something good to write about your education and past acheivement , and you so happen to be the so called more powerful person on earth, my my, you sure are dumb.

Bush only has an effing Bachelor's in history. Obama has a BA in Political Science and is a Harvard trained lawyer. He grew up in Hawaii, lived in Jakarta as a 10 year old and has definitely seen the worse side of life, much more than a pampered young Bush or Mc Cain anyway.

His proposed policies are:

1)Withdrawl of troops from Iraq

2) Decreasing the influence of Lobbyists

3) Starting a National Health Care plan

4) Energy Independence

McCain's are:

1) making ads about Obama

2) selecting an Alaskan redneck who tried to jail her ex-brother in law and loves shooting wolves

3) Keep reminding you that he was a Vietnam POW

4) declaring that by 2013 the Iraq war would be won and Iraq qould become a democracy.

5) reduce the growth of Medicare ( I do pity the 65 year old plus folks with no more government insurance coverage)


No mention of reducing lobby influence on government policy. No mention of unversal health care systems such as the ones in lovely friendly Canada or the UK. And i do find his friendship and past links to George with the IQ of a retarded hamster quite disturbing.

And that Alaskan bitch is quite a turn off by the way.

I like Obama becos he is a man after my heart. A man who cares about the people and not of his own image. I admit, total withdrawl of troops from Iraq is embarassing, but with a budget of over 20 billion a year, the war (for want of a better name) is too expensive.

Cost of getting medical care in America is bullshittily high, thanks to past presidents and congressmen shaking money coated hands of insurance lobbyists.

Obama is right to start planning on ways to decrease the power of these people. And i back him 110 percent.

You want a reason to support a president? Make sure his policies are FOR you, and not for the image of the nation. And make sure he's NOT got the IQ of a retarded hamster.


Cheers from the

Matrix