Gore to Introduce Constitutional Amendment at Oscars? February 24, 2007
Posted by chuckwh in News and politics.1 comment so far
It’s the big question roiling the political waters in D.C. and Hollywood over the last week: Will Al Gore introduce a constitutional amendment at the Academy Awards allowing for a third term in office?
With the Gore presidency experiencing stratospheric support in public opinion polls, and Vice President Clinton and Barack Obama both viewed by a fairly substantial portion of Democratic activists as being vulnerable to Republican slash and burn politics in a general election, there are many Democrats hoping the rumors are true.
Although the Oscars might normally seem like a strange venue to stage the introduction of a constitutional amendment, some feel that the huge impact of “An Inconvenient Truth”, which caused a stir because it starred the President making the case for global warming, makes the Oscars the perfect forum to initiate a campaign for Gore’s third term in office. 
From the introduction of hydrogen and electric-powered cars to the taxation of disposable batteries, from the explosion of Green power in Europe to a recent series of financial and environmental deals with China, “An Inconvenient Truth” has played a major role in the Gore administration’s efforts to turn the world’s attention away from terrorism and present a “united front”, as Gore calls it, against a looming environmental crisis.
In fact, there is a chance that humanity has reached a crossroads in that it has discovered the need to become united at least enough to solve a problem caused by everyone on the planet. With the earth enjoying unprecedented peace and prosperity, there are many who feel that this is not time for handing off the torch of guidance lit by Gore, and that maintaining the momentum is more important than preserving the two term limit.
U.S., Iran Sign Energy Accord February 13, 2007
Posted by chuckwh in News and politics.2 comments
The United States and Iran today announced a comprehensive energy deal that will pave the way for Iran to increase yearly oil production by nearly 8 million barrels.
Much of the work for this, of course, was paved in the wake of the Bam earthquake (see https://thegoreyears.wordpress.com/2006/10/04/clinton-visits-iran-today/) . Vice President Clinton has been the lead diplomatic force in the recent rapprochement with the Iranian government.
The agreement was signed in Isfahan, the Iranian capital, by Treasury Secretary George Soros and Iranian Treasury Minister Hashemi Jannati.
Senator Barack Obama (D., Illinois), who is second in U.S. national polls behind Clinton in the Democratic Primary, praised her efforts during a campaign visit in Lubbock, Texas. “I can only offer my praise and thanks to the Gore Administration in its diplomacy towards the Middle East. This campaign will not ever be a question about competence. For Democrats, I think we just need to continually ask if we can accept the notion of a dynasty. I believe Americans do not want a continuation of power within one group, one family, or one domain, for very long, because history demonstrates that harsh outcomes often prevail from these kind of things.”
Hillary, needless to say, was quite pleased with the events, and was even considering inviting Bill over for some tea to celebrate, according to sources not close to the Clintons. Bill, however, is in Lagos, Nigeria, on an AIDS charity mission, and is not likely to be seen near Hillary, according to sources close to the Clintons, for a couple of years. Hence the photo, caught by the good folks at http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/.
African American Blacks to Obama: Back Off February 10, 2007
Posted by chuckwh in News and politics.add a comment
Jimmy Strange is 14 years old. He lives on the “other” side of Madison Street in Chicago. That’s the part that has been partitioned from Oak Park and the Frank Lloyd Wright homes that show up in Architectural Digest.
It’s where the liquor stores are. It’s where Jimmy lives.
Architectural Digest doesn’t talk about the other side. Actually, nobody does.
Hell, his last name isn’t even Strange, it’s just how he feels living next to Oak Park, living in a home where his mother works about 50 jobs a day (as he last recalled), and his best friend, a fat boy named Walter, was shot down about two blocks away about, Jimmy thinks, two years ago.
Ask Jimmy about Barack Obama and he’ll only get nervous.
That is probably why we’re hearing that Obama doesn’t relate to blacks.
Hey. Houston to Black America: Read history. He’s your best bet.
Go for it, or not, but, seriously?
Don’t blow it for the rest of us.
Remember the whole Ralph Nader thing?
Republicans Accuse Gore of Implant Program February 10, 2007
Posted by chuckwh in Al Gore, Dave Winer, Neo-cons, Neo-conservatives, News and politics, OPML, RSS, Winer.add a comment
Ever notice how you race to the computer whenever you’ve been away from the house for awhile? Especially after a long vacation without access? Hell, you’re a frothy mess. As are most Americans.
Truth is, who the hell can run to the computer anymore to check an email, other than, maybe, our moms?
As a result, most of us are racing frantically for the newest PDA/Cell phone device. Apple not only didn’t bother with a 1984 type commercial to deal with our newest frenzy, they charged a fortune for the privilege of hearing God Jobs (aka, Boom!) talk about the next generation of phone/pda/whatever (I really don’t think, at this point, another link to iPhone is needed here, do you?).
Well, Republican Lynn Westmoreland is saying he has uncovered evidence that the Gore administration will soon propose a program that will require all Americans to be equipped with a microchip in their brains that can accept email and important blogs. According to Westmoreland, the Gore Administration will create a new tax to pay for the mandatory program.
Westmoreland further claims to have uncovered evidence that Dave Winer, the inventor of RSS, has been hired by the administration to create a receptor that can be implanted in the brain. The implanted receptor, according to sources, will only accept RSS and OPML. According to Westmoreland, Winer, a well known tech guru, refused to participate unless OPML, which is a lightweight outline editing markup language, would play at least a minor role in the implantation process.
There has been no comment yet from the Winer Blog Machine, which Westmoreland claims has been in existence since 1997, and is also part of the reason Gore was elected in the first place. Westmoreland: “Winer created an environment that leads to brainwash, by his nefarious insistence on this strange, bit-based concept of community. He was wrong in 1997, and he is wrong now.
“He is also a well known non-Christian, and the Bible is clear about that.”
Westmoreland (excellent comedy link on YouTube has been banned by Viacom (which happens to be controlled by a neocon named Sumner Redstone, and so, is, unfortunately, not available).) is an up and coming Georgia Republican whose mantra is family and Christian values but who, also, could not recite the ten commandments under questioning by Steven Colbert (proof is not available for this claim, see Redstone/Viacom comments).
BTW, the only way to get to Steven Colbert. is through MySpace.
I get it!!! Sumner Redstone owns Steven Colbert (nobody tell Steven, lest he wet his pants). And Jon Stewart, too!.
It all makes sense if you just read the irony in stuff like this.
Understanding all of this will create an infinite loop (like how Southwest Bell begat SBC which begat AT&T which was nailed originally for antitrust actions)(but I digress) if you study it too hard. Luckily, most of you are much more interested in the relationship between Sawyer and Jack and that nasty woman with the high leg kick (hey, can’t blame you there, who doesn’t love a broad with a high leg kick?).
So for most of you, all is good.
But me, I thought the simple fact that Al Gore was president would solve the world’s ills.
Or maybe I’m just writing about some awful nightmare, about a world that could have happened, if George W. Bush had been elected.
No. I’m not that crazy.
New Report on Iraq Charts Growth February 3, 2007
Posted by chuckwh in 9-11, Al Gore, Economy & Business, Election 2008, George W. Bush, Gore, Iraq, News and politics, Politics, Terrorism, World Trade Center.3 comments
The new U.S. government-released National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq is providing some of the most comprehensive numbers on Iraq growth since President Gore’s Bill of Hope authorized billions for education programs across the Middle East. Total literacy has jumped from an estimated 50% in 2001 to nearly 88% in late 2006, according the report (parts of which were provided by UNESCO).
Baghdad University has grown from 34,555 students (1988 numbers) to nearly 90,000, mostly through its two new campuses. The Foundation of Technical Institutes has grown from 35,000 students (also 1988) to 70,000, a growth that also can be attributed to new campuses. In addition, the Hijric Collective has opened up a number of smaller universities (in addition to the Hijric Samarra University) with a somewhat Islamic-focused curriculum. This makes some American politicians nervous, but so far the results are encouraging, with about 35% of the first wave of graduates moving on to post-bachelor work at the larger universities.
The new Samarra University is by far the largest in the Midde East, with some 200,000 students spread among 14 widely dispersed and quickly built campuses.
The first wave of Samarra graduates hit the street only recently, and no figures are available yet on what they’re up to, but indications are that their interests are split among a few distinct areas. The largest contingent of graduates seems to be migrating towards the glamour of Qadisiyah Expressway, the growing high-tech hub that has sprouted in Central Baghdad. The next largest groups are evenly split between teachers, lawyers, doctors, and engineers.
Unemployment in Iraq is now at about 8%, a high number, the report notes, considering all of the infrastructure projects that have been initiated by the BOH since 2001, but much better than the 30% or so estimated at the time of the fall of Saddam (who was basically shown the door after the population saw how well Iraqis were doing in the Shia south and Kurdish north).
The oil industry boom has already prompted the Iraqi government to offer to repay some BOH expenditures for 2006, even though BOH funds were grants, not loans,. Meanwhile, no BOH money has been spent this year by the Iraqi government. Negotiations are now under way to transfer 2007 BOH funds to Sudan, which has been reeling under internecine unrest for several years, but many obstacles remain (primarily on who to give the money to, because the Republican-forced compromise for getting the BOH passed in the first place mandates that no BOH money can go to UN-chartered services).
The report notes that one of the trickle down effects of the rise of the oil industry in Iraq has been a massive growth in small businesses, which also have benefited from the tough standards imposed on BOH beneficiaries that mandate simple legal processes for starting a new business, instead of high taxes and a morass of red tape. The BOHBA (Bill of Hope Business Administration) has, additionally, released nearly $2 billion in business loans in Baghdad alone since the bill was passed. An escrow was established early on that allows the loans to be transferred to an Iraqi financial authority, which means that yet another portion of BOH funds will ultimately be repaid.
That, in fact, is one of the most encouraging aspects of the new report. The U.S. has poured billions into Iraq and other Middle East countries in an effort to improve conditions there, and now some of that money is showing signs of coming back.
I remember when 9-11 happened and thinking to myself that we were at war. But today, the men responsible for that attack are nothing more than a fringe group wandering around aimlessly in Waziristan, unable to even move East or West because they’re surrounded by committed democracies dedicated to destroying what’s left of them.
Something tells me this could have all gone much differently. After the incursion into Afghanistan, Al-Queda went on the run, vowing their revenge, but nothing happened. But Gore didn’t stop there. He then looked at the root causes that might have prompted such anger, and reached out to a people few Americans at the time understood.
The world is richer for it, in more ways than one.
I Turned Off Snap February 3, 2007
Posted by chuckwh in Snap, technology, WordPress.add a comment
Luckily, a couple of weeks ago I discovered I could turn off Snap in WordPress. Actually, that’s when I discovered WordPress had installed it. As soon as I discovered it, off it went. For the same reason I never used the BLINK tag in HTML. I haven’t had anyone express any disappointment.
The Gore Years 