Thoughts on the World
Opinion and analysis of current events: Politics, global warming, alternative energy and more. A realistic, moderate (but slightly left leaning) look at the world. |
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Articles from Thoughts on the World |
Top 5 Reasons Ron Paul's an Idiot
2007-11-12 16:28:00
5. He wants to get rid of the U.N.But supports peaceful solutions to conflicts?4. He wants to allow prayer in public schoolsPlease no…3. He thinks we’d be safer without the CIAAnd he’s a conspiracy theorist.2. He wants to get rid of the EPAAfter the Bush Administration’s 8 years of butchering the environment, I think many of us environmentalists would have a heart attack if this happened.1. He wants to leave abortion up to the states, ban funding for stem cell research, stop campaign finance reform, end the minimum wage, and he doesn’t support gay marriageYeah, that’s more than one. I wanted to only have 5, and so I had to condense this into only one. That shows how bad he is. Check out his votes at On The Issues, it’s all true.Here’s the worst of his record from On The Issues (h/t Hanlon): # Voted NO on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines. (Jan 2007)# Voted NO on allowing human embryonic stem cell research. (May 2005)# Voted YES on banning partial-birt ...
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Does ANYONE Agree With Me?
2007-11-11 15:54:00
On Friday, I wrote that the current situation in Pakistan is a Bhutto-Musharraf power play. More famous pundits have not been discussing this theory as much, but there is a growing number of blogs that are stating the fact that Bhutto isn't the democratic savior she is made out to be.The Boston Globe, as well, essentially agrees with the theory I described, as does fellow blogger Frank Hagan.
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And the Candidate Least Like Me Is...
2007-11-11 15:17:00
...Ron Paul. Surprise surprise Stat :D.In the USATODAY quiz I took, none of my answers matched Paul's.Chris Dodd was most like me, mainly because he agrees with me that the best way to solve global warming is through a carbon tax.
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Pakistan State of Emergency -- A Bhutto-Musharraf Power Play
2007-11-09 19:40:00
While Pervez Musharraf attempts to calm Pakistan after his declaration of emergency rule (effectively a declaration of martial law), Benazir Bhutto waits eagerly and the U.S. waits nervously.That just about sums up Pakistan’s most recent conflict. But we need more detail.MusharrafIf you aren’t living under a rock, you know that this is at its most basic level an attempt to hold on to power by President Musharraf.Musharraf has been in a continuous power struggle with the Pakistani judiciary ever since the 1999 coup which brought him into power. The issue at the forefront of the confrontation has been the fact that Musharraf holds both the office of President and of Chief of the Army, constitutionally illegal. This struggle escalated this year, with the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry being suspended, reinstated, and suspended again during the current crisis.The motive of the suspension was widely (if not universally) seen as a move to hold on to power by Musharraf. Elections were co ...
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The Right's Bloodlust
2007-11-08 16:58:00
We’re not going to war with Iran. Get over it.Hawks on the right are screaming for war, and it’s scaring a lot of people. The good news is the Bush administration isn’t listening.No warAfter years of ignoring advice from anybody but itself, the Bush Administration is accepting the fact that it cannot do whatever it wants with no respect for the wishes of other nations and cultures. The Administration and its allies are realizing diplomacy is the first step before war. See: North Korea.The same tactics we successfully applied to North Korea we are applying to Iran, for the same reasons. We are isolating them internationally through sanctions at the U.N. and public statements hinting at military action. The right’s lust for blood has only made the threat of war seem more real.Once the Iranians are completely isolated, as the North Koreans were, we will offer them a deal diplomatically, as we did with the North Koreans. But that is not the point of this article. The point is how e ...
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Colbert Campaign - Over
2007-11-05 17:58:00
Colbert released a presidential statement today (he won't have a show tonight):"Although I lost by the slimmest margin in presidential election history - only 10 votes - I have chosen not to put the country through another agonizing Supreme Court battle. It is time for this nation to heal.I want to say to my supporters, this is not over. While I may accept the decision of the Council, the fight goes on! The dream endures! ... And I am going off the air until I can talk about this without weeping."
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An Open Letter to Waring Howe, South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman
2007-11-01 17:37:00
This is the guy who said he'd allow a Colbert campaign over 'my dead body'. Please copy this and email it to him at waringsh@bellsouth.net or call him at 843-722-8269! (change your name obviously)Dear Mr. Howe,I'd like you to reconsider your rejection of the Colbert Campaign. You are missing a huge opportunity that is unlikely to come again unless we vote in another president as unpopular as the current president.By denying Colbert even the chance to run, you are effectively throwing away the youth vote. By allowing Colbert to be on ballot, the percentage of young voters would increase beyond what it has been for years. This has been proven through the '1 Million Strong for Stephen T. Colbert' Facebook group, which, at the time of this writing, has over 1.3 million members. Yes, 1.3 million members.Second, you are denying South Carolina the chance to be a powerful primary state. A Colbert campaign in the state would bring unprecedented media coverage. Not only the media, but a ...
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Intense Debate Goes Live!
2007-10-30 19:49:00
Intense Debate has gone out of the beta-ish phase and moved into beta. Comments systems for all!Sign up at IntenseDebate.com
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Russian Chess
2007-10-30 18:59:00
IHT: The United States is prepared to offer concessions to Russia to soften its position on Iran and KosovoThis is much bigger than most news organizations seem to realize. Russia has gotten exactly what it wants. Is this bad? Actually, it could lead to an end of the Iranian nuclear program.What Russia wantsIf one is to make any analysis, geopolitical or not, you have to look at what both sides want. In our case, the two sides are Russia and, of course, the U.S.Russia is primarily looking to expand its sphere of influence back to the borders of the Soviet Union. The Russians realize they have a short window of opportunity to regain influence while the U.S. is bogged down in the Middle East.But there are two serious roadblocks to expansion: the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE) and Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).The Russians want these treaties amended.The only problem: this is not in America’s interest.Consequently, Russia has had to use leverage to att ...
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How High Would Stacking the Cost of the Iraq War Be?
2007-10-29 18:47:00
Stat blogs at The Statistics Monster. If you would like to blog here, send us an email at worldthoughts(at)gmail(dot)com.Cost of Iraq War (as of this writing): $464,160,000Height of 1000 1 dollar bills: 4.3 inchesHeight of 1,000,000 1 dollar bills: 358.3333 feetHeight of 1,000,000,000 1 dollar bills: 678.661 milesHeight of 464,160,000: 315,007.576 milesThat’s enough to (remember, this is the bills laying on their side, so it looks something like this: ||||||||, except for the moon):• Go from the East Coast of the U.S. to the West Coast 105 times• Wrap around the Earth 12 times at the equator• Go to the moon and halfway back
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