Thoughts on the WorldThoughts on the WorldOpinion and analysis of current events: what should be happening, not what is happening. A realistic, moderate look at the world. Articles
Alberto Gonzales: In Memoriam
2007-08-28 03:15:00 Alberto Gonzales : February, 2005 ? September 2008Alberto Gonzales, the 80th Attorney General of the United States, ushered the American Public through a new era of political scandals.The primary cause of death seems to have been political pressure.As a boy, he will be forever remembered by his neighbors as, ?that kid who always looked through my window.?As he grew older, Mr. Gonzales became interested in the Texan governor George W. Bush. Mr. Gonzales served Mr. Bush faithfully until September 2008 when Alberto met his tragic end.He presided nobly over the Guantanamo Bay prison program, the NSA wiretapping program, and the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy, even under pressure.He will never be forgotten. More About: Alberto Gonzales , In Memoriam , Zales , Albert
[POLL] Should the U.S. Call for New Elections in Iraq?
2007-08-26 21:49:00 Should the U.S. call for new elections in Iraq ?YesNoUnder certain conditionsOther pollcode.com free polls More About: Elections , Middle East , Poll , Call
Best Backhanded Compliment Ever
2007-08-25 15:54:00 Jon Stewart: Would you take any Democrat in the field over a Republican? Is there one Republican in the field you admire?Barack Obama: I think some of these folks are decent people. I mean, Mike Huckabee.
General Peter Pace is Right
2007-08-24 19:05:00 Gen. Pace may urge U.S. troop cut in Iraq I commend this Pace for trying, but he is still a bigot. But let?s not turn this into a gay-basher bashing party.According to Reuters, he is ?expected to contend that keeping significantly more than 100,000 troops in Iraq through next year would severely strain the military and compromise its ability to respond to other threats.?I agree 100%. By mid-2008, we should have our forces drawn down to approximately 100,000 soldiers. And we should continue to reduce the number of troops.By leaving more than 100,000 troops in Iraq past 2008 would be dangerous. The military would be horrible condition, and the ability of the U.S. to respond to other threats would be diminished.Not that it matters. If any Democratic presidential candidate other than Joe Biden were elected, at least some troops would be pulled out. It?s all good in the neighborhood, with Democrats More About: Religion , Middle East , General , Ethics
Rove Must Have Stopped Giving Bush Advice
2007-08-24 00:35:00 So Bush has decided to turn conventional wisdom on its head by invoking Vietnam when talking about Iraq .Karl Rove must?ve stopped giving him advice.Comparing Iraq to Vietnam isn?t smart for many (bulleted) reasons: ?Vietnam divided the U.S. ?Vietnam was a failure/'quagmire' &nb sp?The dominoes never fell ?America won the Cold War anywayI could expand on these but I think you get the point. More About: Advice , History , Giving
Top 10 Alberto Gonzales Quotes
2007-08-23 01:08:00 The top 10 Alberto Gonzales quotes (enjoy!):10. ?I have searched my memory.?9. ?I don?t have any recollection about??8. ?I have no recollection.?7. ?I have no memory of this.?6. ?I don?t remember.?5. ?I don?t know.?4. ?I don?t recall ever saying this.?3. ?I don?t recall ever doing that.?2. ?I can?t recall.?1. ?I don?t recall.? More About: Quotes , Corruption , Quote
Impeaching Bush is Pointless
2007-08-22 02:14:00 The Cafferty File, part of The Situation Room on CNN, poses a question every hour The Situation Room is on. This is today's 7:00 question, and Thoughts on the World's response.-------------------------------- ----------------------------Democratic presidential hopeful Chris Dodd says it would be a mistake for Democrats to impeach President Bush . Is he right?Yes. There is less than a year and a half left in his term. It?s just not worth it.There are two big reasons not to impeach Bush:1. It would be time-consuming2. Democrats don?t have enough votes.As we saw during Clinton?s impeachment, Congress does very little during the impeachment process. In fact, during Clinton?s impeachment, his approval ratings rose. The Democratic-led Congress has so much to do already; how many bills have passed so far this session? Not many.Democrats barely hold a slim majority in Congress. For impeachment to be introduced in the Senate, the House only requires a slim majority. But a conviction requires... More About: Corruption , Pointless
What's So Special About Hydropower / Hydroelectricity?
2007-08-20 17:37:00 digg_url = 'http://thethoughtsontheworld.blogspot.co m/2007/08/whats-so-special-about-hydropow er.html';What is hydroelectricity? Hydroelectricity is electricity produced by hydropower. Hydropower is a very broad term; it can refer to using water for irrigation, milling, and even textiles. That is why hydroelectricity is the proper term when referring to the renewable energy resource, which we are.Hydroelectricity is the world?s leading source of renewable energy, supplying 19% of the world?s electricity, and accounting for 63% of the total renewable energy electricity generated. Large hydroelectric and small hydroelectric are the common names for the two types of hydroelectric installations. As you probably could have guessed, small hydro is ?the application of hydroelectric power on a commercial scale serving a small community or medium sized industry.? Meanwhile, large hydro is used on a large scale.So what?s so special about hydroelectricity? The fact that it?s already being use... More About: Global Warming , Alternative Energy , Special , Drop
[POLL] Are You Happy With The Primary Schedule
2007-08-20 00:21:00 Are you happy with the presidential primary schedule?YesNoSort ofNot sureOther pollcode.com free polls More About: Schedule , Poll , Happy , Primary , Prim
"Look! He's Gone And Set The Sky On Fire"
2007-08-19 00:41:00 Credit: Cagle Cartoons More About: China , Fire , Darfur
Michigan to Move Its Primary Up
2007-08-18 04:05:00 Whew. This presidential race is tiring. At least we finally got that whole primary calendar thing sorted out. NOT:According to sources inside both parties, the two state parties in Michigan have agreed to move the state's primary -- legislatively -- to Jan. 15. This is a compromise date out of respect for Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, who really wanted to move the primary to Jan. 8. Others wanted the primary on Jan. 22 as a way to, essentially, play ball with the other early states. There was a nice window being created for a Jan. 22, 2008 event. But by moving to Jan. 15, this will put pressure on the other early states to either entertain a December event or lobby the two national parties to not sanction Michigan at all.Here was the previous primary calendar:January 14 ? Iowa CaucusJanuary 19 ? Democratic Nevada CaucusJanuary 22 ? New Hampshire Prim ary January 29 ? Republican South Carolina Primary(Michigan)Here it is now:January 14 ? Iowa CaucusJanuary 15 ? Michigan PrimaryJanuary 1... More About: Move
First Rumsfeld, Then Rove, and Now: Gonzales?
2007-08-17 00:54:00 First Rumsfeld , then Rove , and now Tony Snow. Who?s next? Alberto Gonzales ?In the past year, over 15 key administration officials have resigned. The original staff members of the Bush Administration is a rare species ("Can I pet it mommy? Please!").Joshua Bolten, the President?s chief of staff, recently told senior aides that if they stayed past Labor Day, he would expect them to stay the rest of the term. This, according to Rove, forced him to leave.Understandably, this could be the reason Tony Snow is planning to leave. Snow was interviewed by Hugh Hewitt:HEWITT: Are there any other resignations upcoming, Tony Snow?SNOW: I think that probably?as [Joshua Bolten] said the other day, he thinks there are probably a couple coming up in the next month or so.Which makes sense based on Bolten?s Labor Day remark. So, will Gonzales go?It?s true Gonzales might not be considered a ?senior aide?; he is higher up in the chain of command than that. But he has become a liability for the Bush Admi... More About: Corruption , Zales
Plastic Bags Statistics - And They're Not Looking So Good
2007-08-14 19:14:00 Petroleum-based grocery bags hit the checkout aisle in 1977. Presented as a revolutionary idea, they are now recognized as an environmental hazard. Just like bottled water, plastic bags are made from crude oil, contributing to global warming.The NumbersUp to 1000 - Estimated years for a plastic bag to decompose.1460 - Plastic bags used in a year by an average family of four in the U.S.12 million - Barrels of oil used to make the plastic bags that the U.S. consumes annually.Less than 1% - Percentage of all plastic bags that get recycled in the U.S.88.5 billion ? Plastic bags consumed in the U.S. last year.500 billion ? Estimated plastic bags sold worldwide each year.The CountriesSan Francisco has banned non-biodegradable plastic bags in large grocery stores.Ireland has a $.20 tax per bag.France is banning plastic bags starting 2010 and starting 2008 in Paris.South Africa has banned thin plastic bagsUganda has banned thin plastic bags and has taxes on thicker ones.Kenya is banning pla... More About: Global Warming , Bags , Statistics , Good
Open Discussion - Anything
2007-08-14 02:25:00 Today we're going to have another open discussion to really test out these new comments.If there's anything, anything at all you feel like talking about (as long as it's not Paris Hilton), please feel free to comment. More About: Open , Discussion , Disc
New Comments System - Intense Debate
2007-08-13 03:44:00 Does everybody like the new comments system? They're the 'Intense Debate ' comments system. Thanks to being a member of Political Grind, we are able to try them while they are still in the 'beta-ish' stage. To sign up to try after the beta, visit the website: IntenseDebate.comYou can either register and get an account to earn account based points, or you can post anonymously.What's great about Intense Debate is that the system doesn't delete the old comments, so the old comments are still there if you would care to look.Simmons. More About: System , Comments , Stem
[POLL] Would You Bomb Pakistan?
2007-08-12 21:37:00 If you comment, your comment will be posted with a link back to your blog.If you had credible evidence to where top Al-Qaeda leaders were hiding in Pakistan , would you bomb them without Pakistan's permission?YesNoIt dependsOther pollcode.com free polls More About: Terrorism , Middle East , Poll , Bomb
Post of the Month: July - And Some Other Stuff
2007-08-12 03:05:00 Let me just say straight out: I don't like the Moderate Plan for Iraq anymore. I didn't plan it out fully, and the situation has changed. I now endorse the Iraq Study Group's plan. That's obviously a little outdated. So now Time Magazine has published a plan. And I really like it.Other thing. Like arguing with a global warming denier? Then check out this forum. In this thread, we got into a heated argument over global warming.Post of the Month for May is... 7 Facts You Never Knew About Bottled Water------------------------------------ ---Part 1 in a 2-part miniseries.7 facts you didn?t know about bottled water (you can draw your own conclusions):? Tap water is just as safe as bottled water. In fact, the U.S. government requires more rigorous testing on tap water than on bottled water. [1] [2] ? Bottled water is thousands of times more expensive than water from your faucet. [1]? Terephthalate (PET) is the most commonly used plastic for making water bottles. PET is derived from cru... More About: Global Warming , Stuff , July
Guess Who's Back
2007-08-11 03:51:00 First day back, so here's someting a little lighter than normal (click to see the whole thing): More About: Guess Who , Back , Guess
No Posts
2007-07-28 02:18:00 Sadly, there will be no posts for almost two weeks. Don't worry loyal followers readers, Thoughts on the World will be back after that. More About: Posts
Aquafina Labels to Say 'Tap Water'
2007-07-28 00:19:00 Aquafina labels to give source: tap waterPepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry. According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group, the world's No. 2 beverage company will include the words "Public Water Source" on Aquafina labels. "Concerns about the bottled-water industry, and increasing corporate control of water, are growing across the country," said Gigi Kellett, director of the "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign, which aims to encourage people to drink tap water.You can make a difference. It worked. That is amazing in its own way. Related posts:?Response From Pepsi - Bottled Water? 7 Facts You Never Knew About Bottled Water? The Simplest and Most Effective Way to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint? Bottled Water Miniseries More About: Global Warming , Labels , Aqua , Abel
Nixon and China + Bush and Iran?
2007-07-27 02:46:00 Part of a series.In July 1971, Henry Kissinger secretly journeyed to Beijing to confer with Premier Zhou Enlai, then in charge of Chinese foreign policy. This paved way for the landmark 1972 summit between President Nixon , Zhou, and Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Until then, the U.S. and China had been estranged from each for more than 20 years. Disrupted for years by internal turmoil and regional threats, Chinese leaders thought of relations with Washington as a possible chance for stability. The United States, troubled by the deepening military quagmire in nearby Vietnam, worsening relations with traditional allies and problems at home, was desperate for a political solution before the upcoming presidential election.In July 2007, Condoleezza Rice secretly journeyed to Tehran to confer with Iran ian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. This paved way for the landmark 2008 summit between President Bush , and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Until then, the U.S. and Iran had been estranged from each f... More About: History
Response From Pepsi - Bottled Water
2007-07-26 01:10:00 I emailed Pepsi , and I recieved the following response:Thank you for contacting us. In fact, we are in the process of clarifying our Aquafina label. We started discussions with Corporate Accountability earlier this year when they raised questions about Aquafina's labeling, and have shared those concerns directly with PepsiCo's CEO.We have reviewed Aquafina's label with the goal of making it more clear and consistent about identifying the source of the water. We have decided to add the words "Public Water System" to clearly indicate the origin of the water. From there, Aquafina?s HydRO-7 purification system removes substances most other bottled waters leave in. What this means is that no matter where you buy your Aquafina, it tastes the same ? every time, everywhere.This change will occur over time as new labels are printed for Aquafina to avoid unnecessary waste of existing, pre-printed materials. Additional questions about Aquafina's sources can be directed to either Pepsi-Cola... More About: Global Warming , Bottled Water , Response
Pepsi Call-In Day - Take Action Against Bottled Water
2007-07-26 00:45:00 Pepsi Call -In Day? Tell Pepsi to get rid of their deceptive logo!Do you know where your bottled water comes from? Probably not, because bottled water corporations like Pepsi, Coke, and Nestlé are reluctant to disclose this information. Instead, they prefer to use misleading branding to undermine confidence in public water systems and shape consumers perceptions of bottled water without revealing information about the sources or sites of the water they bottle. For example, the most popular bottled water brand, Aquafina, is just processed tap water, despite the image of the snow-capped mountain that appears on every label. That?s right; you could get virtually the same water out of your own tap for free!Join Corporate Accountability International?s Pepsi Day of Action ! Ask Pepsi when they will remove the misleading mountain logo on the Aquafina label and become transparent about the sources of the water they bottle. Pepsi is paying attention to this: now we need your help to step up t... More About: Global Warming , Pepsi , Water
Barack Obama's Position on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
2007-07-24 23:45:00 BONUS ADDITION to Gays in the Military Series:The Obama campaign is the fourth campaign to respond to the question ?What is your position on the ?Don't ask, don't tell? policy? Should gays be allowed to serve openly in the military??Here is his response:Thank you for contacting Senator Barack Obama and Obama for America with your thoughts on gay rights. We appreciate hearing from you.Senator Obama supports economic, social, and legal rights for gays and lesbians. He supports full civil unions, expanding hate crimes statutes, fighting discrimination at work and in housing and other places of public accommodation, and wants to increase adoption rights. He opposes any Constitutional ban on gay marriage, opposes the Defense of Marriage Act, and opposes the current ?Don?t ask, don?t tell? policy on gays in the military, which weakens us in a time of global challenges.Barack is a global leader in the fight against AIDS. He traveled to Kenya and took a public HIV test to encourage testin... More About: Religion , Ethics , Posi , Position
"Our Soldiers Died In Vietnam In Vain"
2007-07-24 01:57:00 "Our soldiers died in Vietnam in vain. You can now, John [asker of the question], go to Hanoi and get a Baskin-Robbins ice cream cone."-Mike GravelCould this guy get any nuttier? More About: Soldiers , Died , Sold , Vain
[POLL] Can You be Anti-War and Pro-Troops?
2007-07-23 00:44:00 Don't forget to comment. NEW: If you do comment, your comment will be featured in the post, with a link back to your blog.Is it possible to be anti-war and pro-troops?YesNoOther pollcode .com free polls More About: Middle East , Iraq , Poll , Anti-War , Troops
How Many Republicans Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb? [COMIC]
2007-07-22 22:00:00 Click to expand. More About: Comic , Republicans , Republican , Change , Republica
What Would You Do If You Were President?
2007-07-22 02:52:00 Head over to Political Realm and join the conversation:The topic for this week's stew is simple--with Dick Cheney temporarily assuming the presidency today, I'm wondering what would you do if you became president for a day?There's too much to list here, but here's what should be done:Order Guantanamo closed.Order Guantanamo closed.Make sure the United States adheres to the Geneva Convention.Fire all of Bush's advisers.Try to convince the Congress to actually get something done. More About: President , Would , Resident , Were
China Rising - A Youtube Debate Question
2007-07-21 03:30:00 Thoughts on the World asks candidates: More About: Youtube , China , Question , Debate
The Politics of Harry Potter
More articles from this author:2007-07-20 01:31:00 Everything from attorneys to Virginia Tech has become politicized in recent times. Strangely enough, Harry Potter hasn?t. It remains one of the few things not tainted by politics in pop culture.Why is this?By the way, the reason this post is so short is because I?m trying to reread all the Harry Potter books before midnight tomorrow. I haven?t gotten very far :-( More About: Politics , Otter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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