Can eating cold food solve our nation’s energy crisis?

I nearly fell off my chair last night in disbelieve over what I was reading in a flyer sent by our congressman Henry E. Brown. Listed as a “Common sense step that every American can take to help solve our nation’s gas and energy crisis” was “eat cold food instead of warming every meal, especially leftovers.” Is no one in Congress taking our energy crisis seriously?? Eating sandwiches instead of soup is going to solve our dependence on foreign oil? Our politicians are quick to tell us that we have the highest standard of living in the world. Having traveled to Europe many times now over 30 or more years, that’s simply not true. Not only do other countries afford a very comfortable middle class lifestyle, they far exceed our ability to deliver health care and energy independence. Countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Brazil are world leaders in both renewable energy and alternative fuels and have been working hard at the issue since the 1970’s. Our leadership has failed us on energy issues and I for one cannot be placated by tips such as eating cold food and keeping my tires inflated properly. I’m off to nuke a lean cuisine.

Broken, cracked or shattered

Are we really seeing the glass ceiling in US national politics shatter during this presidential election? I think we are. Hillary Clinton’s run for the Democratic presidential nomination was as serious, as well-funded and managed as any bid. In the end, Hillary did not get her party’s nomination, but it was due to complex reasons, not a single issue – her gender. And, it certainly wasn’t due to cigar smoke filled, back room politics of yesteryear.

I’m sure that there are Americans that think McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate is strictly to attract women voters to the Republican Party. While this certainly must be a Republican objective, the issue is more complex. McCain has to believe that Sarah Palin’s upside will more than outweigh any downside of having a woman on the ticket. I think we are witnessing a sea change in this presidential election. Both parties are looking to strong, intelligent women to fill our highest elected offices. Neither Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin feel like “tokens” to me. They are both the real deal and both are shattering glass ceilings.