Tag: government

Ron Paul @ USC

Posted on by mygoodgomez

Ron Paul
ron paul @ usc in front of tommy trojan

“He’s so Republican, it’s like not Republican.”

That’s my favorite quote of the day that I overheard some other kids saying. Is it true? Kinda. His policy does stay very true to Republican party lines, but no other GOP candidates like him. It’s complicated.

So this was my first political rally. It was what I expected to be: tons of people who already are gung-ho for Dr. Paul and ready to cheer at his every word. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with much of what he says, but I’m not the type to eat up whatever someone says… Even if they are the best candidate running on the Republican ticket.

The state of the GOP right now is very unfortunate. To have a situation where a candidate doesn’t back the president of his own party, but stands behind exactly what the party defines itself as is pretty pathetic. What is even worse is the response of the Republican party to what Ron Paul says. The Republican party is lucky that someone like Paul came around; he’s their only chance to capture the youth’s attention.

So all in all, the rally was a learning experience. I am so thankful to be in a place where on any give Wednesday, you could be in a class, at a club meeting, asleep, or at a political rally. USC is certainly an interesting place.

Google’s counter to SiCKO

Posted on by mygoodgomez

Michael Moore SiCKO

Google, in a suprizing and dissappointing PR move, has decided to come out against Michael Moore and offer to place HMO ads directly across from search results that include SiCKO. Why? Because Google believes that:

Moore attacks health insurers, health providers, and pharmaceutical companies by connecting them to isolated and emotional stories of the system at its worst.

Like many people, I have already seen Michael Moore’s SiCKO, the film about the sad state of the health care system in the United States. I saw the movie before it came out in theaters because Moore let it known that he wants people to torrent it, and that he didn’t mind at all that it was ripped to YouTube (although later taken off). But that’s beside the point.

I am fairly confused at Google’s reaction to the movie. Is this Google’s first overt move to reject it’s public user-base, turning instead to the big business ad customers? Of course, Google has more money to make by doing what it has done, but is it really worth it? SiCKO has received near universal praise for its criticisms, and I agree with the New York Times when they say that it is a “cinematic indictment of the American health care system.”

Apart from the purely capitalistic point of view (which is that Google is doing the right thing), today’s market relies on more than just your big money customer base. Companies must look out for the public, and I find this especially true for Google. While we, the average searchers, aren’t the ones directly paying Google, we are the ones looking at the ads. We don’t hold the large wallets, but in our massive numbers, we hold far more power than the businesses Google is trying to cater to.

This move by Google confuses me. I really hope that this does not become a trend in Google’s business tactics; it could lead to the gradual diminishment of one of the largest internet companies we know.

Update: Google has retracted the statements of their employee.