Will Sarah Palin Be the First Female President?

One of the issues dogging John McCain this election is the fact that he is -- well -- old. So, if he does win, we might get the first female president after all, since he chose Alaska governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate.

Media frenzy to ensue.

Of course this is a brilliant move. It might bring women voters with anger over the whole Hillary thing. And it sheds all sorts of attention (and the accompanying momentum) on McCain as he heads into the Republican National Convention next week.

Tags: John McCain, John McCain running mate, Sarah Palin, first female president

Election 2008: What's Important To Me (Part 2)

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about health care, which, for me, is the biggest concern in Election 2008. Next on my list, though, is education.

Why education matters to me

To me, there are very few things more important than seeing that future generations are well-educated. A well-educated society -- one in which everyone has access to some form of basic education and options to continue education beyond that -- is a society that is better off overall. America is so great because she offers educational opportunities.

Unfortunately, we are starting to fail our children in terms of education. Additionally, our higher education is becoming prohibitively expensive. This means that we are starting to lose an edge that we once had on the world stage. And I don't mean just teaching kids to perform well on tests. Standardized tests don't truly measure critical thinking and other skills. They merely measure your ability to regurgitate information.

Personally, I think that teachers should be paid more, and that they should be routinely evaluated and awarded bonuses for excellence. This would attract more quality teachers, and help retain them in the future. Tenure is also something that I am wary of, since it encourages teachers to fall off at some point. But some kind of modified tenure might be in order.

I am not a fan of school vouchers, even though I send my son to private kindergarten in the afternoons (public kindergarten here just isn't cutting it). I also have no problem with *gasp* a national school curriculum. I compare the education my husband got in New York to the education I got in Idaho -- and what it looks like my son is getting in Utah -- and think that it might be nice to have a more consistent and uniform educational system in this country.

Personally, while neither candidate places as much emphasis on education as I would like, I think Barack Obama's plan for education more closely mirrors my thoughts on the subject than does John McCain's plan for education. I also like Obama's emphasis on early childhood education.

What do you think of education in America? Who do you think will help American education?

Tags: education, Barack Obama, John McCain, Election 2008,
economy, health care

Shameless Self-Promotion: School Starts Monday!

My schedule is about to get a lot easier (and regular). School starts Monday for Josh and Gavin.

Happy dance! Happy dance!

Anyway, this week I'm just going to focus on two things:

1. Alpha Consumer, a blog at U.S. News & World Report, interviewed me about my professional blogging job. Read all about it.
2. I'm conducting a poll: Which Presidential Candidate Will Better For Your Personal Finances? Head over to Yielding Wealth, vote and then leave a comment.

Next week: Why education and the economy of two of the election issues most important to me.

Shameless Self-Promotion: Money Mess Edition

Ah, it's been a week of money messes. The school year is starting, and Josh's tuition waiver for his Ph.D. classes, though "memo"-ed, has yet to show up on the tuition bill. On top of that, the new mandatory insurance program for students is trying to charge us premiums, even though the paperwork showing that we already have insurance and are opting out of the student insurance, was turned in. So, instead of a $687 bill, we are supposed to come up with more than $2,000 today -- or Josh gets booted from his classes. We have been trying since we got back from New York to get this resolved so that this wouldn't happen. And yet, bureaucracy triumphs.

So, here are some other money messes I wrote about this week:

1. We had to confront our new neighbors about the boards they were nailing to a fence that is clearly on our property.
2. If you died, would your family be able to function financially without you? Life insurance is a must.
3. $1 for a house seems like a good deal. But watch out for the unintended costs.
4. Are your finances ready for an emergency? Build an emergency fund, even as recession looms.
5. It's getting harder to get any kind of a loan -- even consumer loans like credit cards.

And, finally, enjoy this week's Friday Fun Video: A Canadian take on the amero:



Tags: money mess, amero, fence, $1 house,
tuition, insurance, emergency fund

Go Keith Olbermann!

Rush Limbaugh has always bothered me, especially since he is such a blatant hypocrite. I know we're all hypocrites in our own ways, but Rush seems to take it new levels. And it bothers me extra that people think he is so moral. He's patronizing to women, and he is, in fact, a moral wasteland. Thanks, Keith, for calling him out!

Election 2008: What's Important To Me (Part 1)

I've been asked by a couple of people what's important to me this election season. I was further inspired by a post by Pundit Mom about what is important to her. And I thought that maybe I'd share what I find the most pressing issues for Election 2008. (And get your insights as well!)

My top 3 concerns are:

1. Health care
2. Education
3. Energy
   

Today I'll address health care, and move on to the others later.

Health care

This is the biggie for me right now. Our health care system is seriously messed up. Millions of children (and adults, of course) do not have health care. Millions more have inadequate health care. Of developed countries, we have the highest per capita cost for health care, but we are not number one. Nope, we rank #37.

I'm going to repeat that: Our health care system ranks #37 in the world. We pay more than many others of the richest countries in the world, but our health care isn't as good.

What we pay in health care also cuts into other areas of our lives. Insurance premiums constantly go up, but we do not get better health care. We just pay more. Sometimes we get worse health care -- with benefits cut. With all of the other pressures on the household budget, health care is often the thing that is dropped. If you don't lose it because your employer can't afford it anymore.

Additionally, there are other costs. If you don't have health care, it costs you -- and society -- more in the long run. How many people wait until things are bad enough for the emergency room before they go in? It would be cheaper all the way around if preventative measures were encouraged. As it is, without insurance (and even with some insurance), we wait until the last possible second to get anything taken care of. And it costs more for everyone.

Neither of the candidates offers universal health care. However, Obama provides a plan that would allow the government more of a role in closing the gap that we see in ability to pay for health insurance. Obama's policies would directly benefit the Middle Class. When all is said and done, McCain's would most likely do little more than maintain the status quo. And one thing we don't need in terms of health care in this country is the status quo.

What do you think about health care in America? What issues are most important to you?

Tags: health care, Election 2008, issues election, universal health care,
economy, Barack Obama, John McCain

Shameless Self-Promotion: School Edition

Back to school is in the air. And I've written about it. A little bit. Amongst other things.

1. Back to school shopping can teach you about money management.
2. Learn about different ways to make money -- from recycling.
3. Discover some of the attributes it takes to run a home business.
4. Prepare for retirement with a look at these income streams.
5. Buying a home? Be ready to deal with roller coaster mortgage interest rates.
   

And I even wrote some guest posts this week:

1. Ways that you can minimize the amount of money you take out for student loans.
   
2. Learn 4 ways you can start investing.
3. Find out about the 401k debit card. Possibly the worst financial idea. Ever.
4. Resist the temptation to rack up more debt once you've paid off your credit cards.

For fun, I thought I'd share this gem of a video, which I am featuring as my Friday Fun Post on many of my blogs this week.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Kindergarten in Logan, UT: I've Just Suffered a Severe Disappointment

All summer I've been looking forward to kindergarten here in Logan, UT. In my class in Idaho, we had kindergarten for four hours (you know, half a day). Gavin's preschool, Morningside, was three hours each day. So I sort of thought he would be in kindergarten for 3 to 4 hours. We bought school supplies. I planned for a lovely year of not having to pay for his schooling while I had 3-4 hours to work in the mornings.

And then came today's letter. Kindergarten here is only 2 1/2 hours per day. And he doesn't even have to bring his own school supplies.

What is this, glorified preschool?

Actually, I'm not even sure it's glorified. The concern over Gavin's rhyming ability suddenly becomes clear...

I feel like screaming. Quite literally, screaming.

Now I've got to decide: Pay for private kindergarten? Or deal with this silliness from the Utah public education system?

Tags: Kindergarten Logan UT, all day kindergarten, Utah public education, preschool,
private kindergarten

Breaking Dawn by Stehpanie Meyer: My Take

Yesterday afternoon I bought Breaking Dawn. Last night I read the book. Mainly because I know that some of you want me to read it so that you can borrow it -- instead of getting put on the "wait list" at the library. Now you can be on a "wait list" with me, instead.

At any rate, here's my take. Be warned: Spoilers.

The first half of Breaking Dawn took up right where Eclipse left off. Which meant that I spent the first half of the book annoyed. I'm not a fan of romance, and I'm not a fan of teenage angst. And I'm not a fan of detailed descriptions of what angst-ridden and romantic people do.

(Spoilers coming!) When Bella gets pregnant on the honeymoon, and she comes back to give birth to her half-vampire spawn, we switch to the Jacob view. Which is also annoying. But the titles of the chapters in that portion of the book are rather amusing. Things like "Sure as hell didn't see that one coming" and "Good thing I have a strong stomach" and "You know things are bad when you feel guilty for being rude to vampires." The titles made me laugh, despite the fact that the moment Bella's baby is revealed a girl, I just knew whom Jacob was going to imprint upon a few pages later.

Happily, though, a little more than halfway through the book we have a shift (back to Bella's narration -- Jacob's fairly useless now that he's imprinted) to the Volturi threat. After all, we know that the Volturi aren't going to sit back and watch Carlisle's family grow by yet another gifted member. Plus, what if the little bundle of joy (who talks and deposits pictures into others' brains) is an abomination? The political interactions and schemes are what held me through the end of the book.

Although I didn't think it would actually come to a fight, I was still kind of disappointed when it didn't. Like Stefan and Vladimir, I was ready for the Volturi to have their butts handed to them. This does leave the door open for further books, of course, but I'm not sure I would read them if they were written. Anything more would be mostly episodic. Maybe Meyer wants to set things up like Orson Scott Card did with the Ender stories. The potential for endless episodes of related characters. (Disclosure: I lost interest in Ender after Children of the Mind.) Or maybe the Twilight Saga is really ended. Whatever.

I liked the last half (but only the last half mind you) of Breaking Dawn better than any of the other books in this series.

But still not my favorite book. Not. Even. Close.

What do you think of Breaking Dawn? What do you think of the Twilight Saga?

Tags: Breaking Dawn, Twilight Saga, Stephanie Meyer, Twilight Stephanie Meyer,
Breaking Dawn review, vampire