Opinion

A new law is in the works, stirred up by the health conscious, intent on ridding America of a very serious problem: obesity. The Food and Drug Administration has left open a discussion involving a whole new system of labeling requirements for food products. There are a few options as of now for how this new labeling system should operate.

To the dismay of many of her fans and the general public, singer Rihanna released a remix of her song “Birthday Cake” with ex-boyfriend and former abuser, Chris Brown. The release of her song stirred outrage from the media and the public, especially those on social networking websites. These new developments put into question whether or not Rihanna’s public actions in dealing with this situation are respectable.

Two weekends ago, a movie called “Act of Valor” released in theaters nationwide. It was a bold approach to the military action film genre, and featured active duty Navy SEALS instead of actors. I know many people that have seen the film and really enjoyed it, but there’s one perspective that hasn’t really been brought to attention: the member of a military family.

By now, the majority of us who have a Facebook account should have already seen or heard about it. For the past few weeks, it’s been running rampant on our news feeds as our friends liked or commented on the photos. Though it has simmered down as of late, there’s no doubting the influence of “UCI Memebase” on the university’s online community.

As we approach the University of California, Irvine’s 50th anniversary, our institution is already acknowledged worldwide as equal to, or better than, many universities three or four times our age. But like a young person crossing the threshold into adulthood, this milestone marks a point in history where UC Irvine can confidently say we know who we are and what we are about.

This is the age of Citizen’s United. Every major Republican candidate for president left in the race has a not-so-secret billionaire backing him (Romney of course has several), and the usual wave of disgusting, negative ads has grown to tsunami-like proportions thanks to the prevalence of super PACs, which, and it cannot be repeated enough, do not coordinate with the candidates. Considering the state of campaign finance, it is no surprise that President Obama has authorized super PACs to act on his behalf.

It has been a mere three weeks since his first blowout game against the New Jersey Nets, and Jeremy Lin has already become arguably the biggest story in basketball since LeBron James and “The Decision.” Or dare I say, even bigger.

There are few things in the world that are as absolutely ludicrous as the veganism culture. Now, not being a huge fan of most “-ism” fads, it’s not a surprise that this last week in news has been one face-palm after another.

Just like every other member of the “Religious Right” in the state, I was nervously awaiting the court’s ruling on whether or not the California ban on same-sex marriage violated the U.S. Constitution. Lo and behold, the liberal judges decided that it was, in fact, OK for the gays to get married. Great. What next? Are the Dems going to allow people to marry animals? Are we all going to be forced to share our beds with furniture? These liberal judges have gone too far with this one.

A few weeks ago, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a nonprofit organization that helps fund charities aimed at curing breast cancer, made a huge booboo. They cut funding from Planned Parenthood. That’s over $500,000 worth of grants that the womens’ rights organization desperately needs, and it was taken from them for some fishy reasons.

Is it a necessary and convenient tool for officers to be able to pull over people based on their race, or is this a direct violation of our civil rights?

A month ago it was Newt Gingrich; now it’s Rick Santorum. Mitt Romney was trending at some point in between, but no one really noticed, or maybe no one wanted to. Romney is the candidate the GOP yawns over, with the candidate of the month consistently coming in and stealing his thunder. The thread I see running through all these other candidates is their authenticity, or at least the appearance of it, especially in relation to Romney.