Banking on Hope

There's a lot of excitement about Barack Obama these days. And just when he needs it. He's winning big in many state contests, winning delegates and super delegates. And he's got the backing of a number of star power folks. I can't help but wonder though, whether Obama is sinking into the pockets of the powerful and elite that easily influence our elections with their money. Is he really a change or more of the same? Will he really be able to change the direction America is going? I hope that folks really listen to what he says before deciding to vote for him. For that matter I hope folks do this for any candidate. What I mean is, are voters really differentiating between nebulous talk that folks want to hear and solid policy statements that reveal his intentions. The latter is the real substance and it's what we should look for when candidates speak.

For me, I no longer see much difference between either political party. Consequently, I don't trust any of them, apart from Dennis Kucinich. In the end it's a money game and the candidate with the most money usually ends up the winner. Where does this money come from? Corporations and the rich. And where does the real, middle and lower class voter fit in there? Well they end up being duped into thinking that the candidate that gets trumpeted about the most is the candidate for them. Believe me, I'm no expert on elections or the voting system, but I can smell pretty well and what I smell during election time is rotten. Voter beware!

Where the $ comes from and where the $ goes

Check out this website: Money Track at Political Base

I knew this kind of information was available, but now it's even more available than before. You can home in on your state, county, town, neighborhood, or street to see where political contribution money is going. I closed in on my little town in Queens and found out that of the 7 contributions 5 are for Guiliani and 2 are for Clinton. The two for Clinton were given by Chinese folks. None of the contributions for Guiliani were given by Chinese folks.

See who's giving what in your neighborhood.

Notable Articles

There were a couple of good articles in the New York Times yesterday, January 7, 2008.

One was about plastics containers for water: The (Possible) Perils of Being Thirsty While Being Green by Alina Tugend. I got several things out of this article. One is a better sense of the differences between plastic containers. Another is an understanding of the numbering system used on plastics. I also learned how bad things can get in your body from plastic containers. And finally, but also most importantly, I learned not to microwave food in plastic containers. As a result, I'm going to buy those glass microwavable containers I saw in the Lehman's catalog.

The other article was about how folks in New Hampshire are concerned about energy prices. It seems that many folks there drive quite a ways to get to work or to where ever they're going and many are feeling pinched by gas prices. And if that's not pinching them, then they're feeling it from the price of heating oil for their homes. Unfortunately, few of the politicians slugging it out there this past week were talking about energy. Surprised? Don't be. They're afraid of talking about energy. Bill Richardson isn't, thankfully. And of course Dennis Kucinich doesn't shy away from many issues. It's just unfortunate that the majority of candidates think they can skip around important issues like this. Sooner or later, they'll be forced to take a good hard look at the looming energy problems waiting on the horizon.