CLARK KENT'S INBOX October 10th
The second Presidential Debate occurred this week as you already know. Town hall formats are my favorite format, because of the presence of a small group of "Joe Six Packs." The "Six Pack" label I'm starting find ironic in the sense I can't even afford to drink beer, especially in a time when I need it the most. Even a bottle off Boones is beyond our budget. If this goes on much longer, I may have to make 6 or 7 trips through the communion line at church.
The debate itself eventually got on my nerves, Sen. McCain being the main culprit. Joseph Sextuplet-Bundle (it's German, think about it) would ask what the senator what he was going to do to get millions of people back to work to which the Senator would respond with something to the effect of,
Well, Joseph, I appreciate your question. What I plan to do is point to my voting record where I've challenged my party a number of times while reaching across the aisle in a spirit of bipartisan cooperation. I've been doing this my entire time as a public servant, and I'm going to keep reminding the American people of my record and I'm going to keep holding hands with strange men for the next four years. This is my point-by-point plan in excruciating detail. Senator Obama, I have to mention, has no such plan. Senator Obama hates kittens and preemies. Thank you again for that thoughtful question Joseph.
Then Tom Brokaw would roll his eyes, reminding the candidates for the umpteenth time like they were kids being called to dinner, that they needed to keep their remarks to the previously agreed upon limit of one minute. At a certain point I could take no more of this and changed the channel to Paris Hilton's New BFF which is an utterly pointless show, but at least I could laugh.
One of the points covered in the debate was our country's energy consumption. Senator Obama's goal is to reduce foreign dependency on oil in less than a decade. It sounds tough, but as he said, so was going to the moon. I am all for this, but want to make sure the environmental consequences of such a move are taken into consideration.
Given that being green is the in thing these days there's not an company out there that doesn't want to out of the loop. Still, when it comes to industries like big oil you have to wonder about their sincerity in their efforts. Thankfully there's one oil company that's getting it right.I only hope the others will follow Prescott Oil's lead.
Still on the topic, one of the problems with being green is a lack of established standards. One of the things to watch for in companies that claim to environmentally friendly is key indicators in their message that can help in determining if they truly care about the environment or in truth care about their image more. Read this CNN article, It's Not Easy Being Green.
By the way, are you still not sure who to vote for, or want to see where really stand on the issues? Try this fun little survey from ABC News.
Still on the economy, you may have seen this skit on SNL already, but given my background in the housing industry, I was falling off the couch laughing. It perfectly captures most of the players involved in the housing crisis.
Finally, this has nothing to do with the economy, but more with kids, school and disgusting bugs. In light of my Lice Pandemic story, my wife is quick to find any opportunity to perpetuate my "freaked-outted-ness." In this case an article from MSNBC reporting on a strain of Mutant (ok, that might be an exaggeration) Super Lice (that is not), schools and parents are dealing with.
And now...
The first is Tara at From Dawn Till Rusk. It's a parenting blog as part of The Coventry Telegraph where Tara shares her experiences and opinions as a mum. I've mentioned her site before, but it needs to be spotlighted again as Super. Reading her posts, you can quickly sense the tenderness she feels for her children and her husband. Tara can be as equally concerned about issues affecting families as she can be cheeky in retelling moments at home. Some of my favorite examples of this include her story of what happened when her honeymoon was interrupted by the events of 911, and her discussion on if it's appropriate to tell kids there is a time to fight.
My second Super Blog recommendation is Jen at Steenky Bee. I've just started getting to know her, but already I think her site too hilarious not to share with others. Jen is both zany and upbeat which makes you smile at her antics and observations. her profile pic alone will show what I'm talking about. Even with the humor Jen can make you laugh and kind of choke you up at the same time as she did me in her story about her son's love of the hotel maintenance man and the swimming pool (don't get confused, it was a guest post for Stiletto Mom who originally introduced us). Another fav is her attempts at reducing the amount of time she takes to get ready. I felt a little awkward reading it, but I think there are allot of people who could relate.
Get to know them this weekend!
