JZipp - whereIstand.com

Sarah Palin was not a good choice for John McCain's vice presidential candidate. (2008 Presidential Election)

author added — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:40:17 GMT

Did McCain just hand over the election? Or are the Republicans staging a coup at the RNC to nominate Mitt Romney? After all, that would certainly throw a curve to the Obama campaign... they'd have to reconfigure their game plan. I just don't see how Palin helps with the undecided voters. And experience? The McCain team just limited the attacks they can make on Obama with this one.

The media does have a social responsibility to promote positive body images. (Media)

author added — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:04:57 GMT

With great power comes great responsibility. The media, especially in the United States, has grown so immensely in recent years that it now has the power to effectively alter the minds and thoughts of entire generations (much more so than parents and teachers). Since it blatantly exploits that power for profit, it must accept a certain level of responsibility. As a society, we haven't even begun to unravel the consequences of these actions.

Irradiated food is not safe to eat. (Health)

author added — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:47:15 GMT

This is another attempt by policy makers to address worldwide hunger and poverty issues, not to mention food costs, with a complete disregard for public safety. The idea of beaming radiation into food in an attempt to make it "edible" for a longer period of time is absurd. Especially because doing so means the food is not "fresh" by any definition of the word. There have been numerous tests that prove irradiated food still contains a high risk for the spread of deadly viruses and bacteria. If the radiation isn't doing that much, then why ask people to trust it? Also, by altering the makeup of foodstuff, you're opening a can of worms that could lead to the creation of stronger bacteria. Oh science, you silly contradiction.

NBC's coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games was not satisfactory. (Television)

author added — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:48:01 GMT

After the first week, post-"Phelps mania", NBC viewers were hard-pressed to find much in the way of live coverage. Thanks to the Internet, results were impossible to avoid in a number of high-profile events. Thus, the decision to show tape delayed coverage versus live, lower-profile events in prime time turned out to be a poor one. It's simply a case where there should've been live telecasts of events as they happened rather than the network trumping live coverage for tape.

There should be no federal minimum wage. (Labor )

author added — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:24:28 GMT

This should be a state issue, not a federal issue. Cost of living varies from state-to-state and that's where the minimum wage debate stems. I'd rather the federal government focus on reform that's necessary across the board. However, there should be federal laws to protect workers' rights to fair compensation so that they aren't taken advantage of just because they live in a relatively "affordable" area.

Pregnant women should avoid peanuts. (Health)

author added — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:02:46 GMT

I'm on the fence, but leaning more towards the "yes" side. The peanut allergy is extremely dangerous. While there's no proof that a pregnant woman's intake of peanuts can lead to the allergy in newborns, there's also no absolute science to refute that it can't. For every case-study that cites it as a possibility, there's another that doesn't. However, my feeling is better safe than sorry with this one. You can deal for 9 months without peanuts. Some people are forced to go their whole lives without them.

Rafael Nadal will not win the 2008 U.S. Open. (Sports)

author added — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:22:11 GMT

I'm going with exhaustion as a major factor for why he won't pull off the U.S. Open win. He's not the top hard-court player in the world yet, and most of the people who pose a real threat to Nadal at the Open weren't even at the Olympics.

Joseph Biden was not a good choice for Obama's vice presidentialial candidate. (2008 Presidential Election)

author added — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:23:04 GMT

I've been very hot/cold on this choice since the announcement for various reasons. Right now, I'm becoming increasingly cold on it. #1 - They don't really get along and have a number of ideological differences. The democrats of "change" politics ended up piecing together a ticket similar to Kerry/Edwards or Gore/Lieberman in that respect. #2 - The most "PC" candidate to run for President chose one of the most unashamed, non-PC democratic candidates for VP (sidenote: it's actually one of the reasons I like Biden). #3 - It has to be said... how does picking a candidate that's too similar to an HRC in many respects (a Washington insider, an attack dog, a gaffe maker) yet doesn't bring a voting bloc to the table like HRC actually help bring new voters to the Obama ticket? By choosing HRC-lite, the campaign now has to find a way to get voters interested in Joe Biden from scratch... with only 2 months to go. I'm sorry, but most of the voters in this country are not followers of daily political news, and even a candidate like Obama didn't and can't change that without actually being an open-door President (which requires winning the general election first). A nation-wide election is a popularity contest, at least in terms of what pushes a ticket over the top in many close races. In times when elections are lost by hundreds of "missing" or "non-counted" votes, sealing the deal is more important than anything else. At least if Obama picked Kaine, he'd have chosen someone he works well with and a guy he actually likes being in the company of on a regular basis. I don't see Obama-Biden becoming the symbiotic relationship the Obama camp hopes for. Once again, the democrats are playing the GOP game... and we already know who is better at that one.

Barack Obama has the best health care plan. (Health)

author added — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:21:59 GMT

John Edwards actually had the best overall health care plan in oast two elections. Hence why Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each created their own off-shoots of the Edwards health agenda this time around. Because of that, I'd have to say of the four, Obama's shows the most practicality and potential.

Pepsi makes a better tasting cola than Coke. (Food & Beverage)

author added — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:49:57 GMT

I know I'm likely in the minority, but Pepsi (regular and diet) are far and away better than Coke according to my taste buds.