Opinion Streams

President Obama’s first 100 days in office have come and gone. The passage of the first 100 days is, however, significant not just because of the political implications of that milestone, but also, in the context of this website, because it marks the length of time this site has been “dark” (i.e., not updated with new articles, though I have remained active in the comment stream to my last substantive article, “The Conserative Christian Case for Supporting Obama“). I have received many inquiries from friends and supporters of this website, all of whom have implored me to post new content soon.

In a rare post about my personal life (all of my posts have been about some aspect of politics, policy or technology, while only my “About Me” page focuses on me), I wish to report that I am currently going through final exams. I am sharing this to explain my absence (and my woeful slip-up in not reporting the Blagojevich mess!). I shall resume blogging once I am done finals. Until then, please bare with me and don’t give up on Opinion Streams!

Thank you for being patient with me.

As President-Elect Obama transitions to the Oval Office, Opinion Streams will also undergo a transition. As regular readers to my fledgling site know, I went live only six months ago, opining on topics such as technology, sports and law, with a spattering of politics. However, as the recently concluded general election got underway, I focused entirely on politics – particularly dispelling rumors about Obama’s background and policy positions, demonstrating the hypocrisy and misrepresentations of certain rhetoric coming from the McCain/Palin campaign and providing analyses behind seemingly benign campaign rhetoric.

Gov. Sarah Palin (pronounced “pay-len” for those that are still confused) used her speech yesterday as an attempt to show the media that it was attempting to judge her by the wrong set of accomplishments. By spending far more time hosting an “Obama roast” (without even having the decency to mention her opponent’s name), and throwing a patently deceptive spin on Obama’s platform, than discussing what she’s actually done during her “small town” political career, Palin used her speech to attempt to show the world that her ability to be vengeful, sarcastic and deceptive was her primary qualification for the job McCain hastily nominated her for.

Our country needs change. For seven years we’ve been held hostage under the grip of fear-based politics and Reganomics 2.0. For six years we’ve stood by shocked as our President squandered the friendship of millions who once cried en masse alongside us when the towers fell. For seven years we’ve grieved for every child left behind by failed policies and ineffective laws. For five years, we’ve shed confused tears as we watched the parade of flag draped coffins carrying the bodies of sons, daughters, husbands and fathers lost to an ill-conceived and unnecessary war.

I am honored to have been chosen for the Arte y Pico award. The award was given to me by Lori Laws, who runs Persevere, a blog that provides heartfelt inspirational messages geared toward helping you unlock the strength you already possess to run this race called life. Please visit Lori’s blog. The Arte y Pico award is given to those who inspire others with their creative energy and talents in writing, artwork, design or contributions to the blogging community. That’s what makes this award so special to me. I’m sure Lori has seen a lot of great blogs.

If you’ve ever looked at a commercial from Christian Childrens’ Fund or the American Red Cross, or any other agency devoted to feeding the world’s hungry children, and said to yourself “if only I had the money, I would help feed these children”, this aid program is for you.  Through FreeRice.com, you can donate rice to needy children and help end world hunger WITHOUT SPENDING ANY OF YOUR ALREADY-STRETCHED-TOO-THIN MONEY.  FreeRice.com, a sister site of Poverty.com, has teamed up with the UN World Food Program and several other sponsor agencies to create a donation program whereby you donate food simply by going to FreeRice.com and answering vocabulary questions.  For every vocabulary question you answer correctly, 20 grains of rice are donated through the UN World Food Program to help end hunger.  The sponsors listed at the bottom the website pay for the rice you donate, but you don’t even have to click on the sponsor links!  All you do is answer vocabulary questions.  It’s a win-win - you improve your vocabulary while helping to end world hunger, all without having to click on banner ads or part with gas or grocery money.

FYI - it takes about 400 grains of rice per day to feed a person, so get started on those vocabulary questions!  You can click the FreeRice.com banner at the beginning of this post to get started.

I am very excited to finally carve out my own little slice of the web, and I’m even more excited that you stopped by to visit!!!!!  At this site, I encourage everyone to speak their mind about anything.  While topical blogs (blogs devoted to a particular political perspective or a television show) are great, I wanted to create a blog where I and my visiters could feel free to discuss whatever’s on our minds, whether it happens to be politics, technology, cooking, shopping…whatever!  So check out the “About Opinion Streams” page and feel free to comment on my latest post, concerning Al Gore’s endorsement of Barack Obama’s candidacy.  You can also check out my previous posts, which discuss such topics as the use of military force, the new iPhone 3G and further insights into the 2008 Presidential race.  Let your thoughts flow!!!