Voting at Home by Absentee Ballot

Anyone can request an absentee ballot - you don't have to be out of state on election day or disabled. This year we canceled our fall vacation in anticipation of a new grandchild, but had already requested an absentee ballot. I am so thankful we did, because the ballot for this General Election was huge with six state issues and a long list of candidates for judicial and state offices in addition to the presidential candidates.

Yesterday we sat down with a laptop and all the newspaper articles we had been collecting and I had the best voting experience ever! It took me way over an hour to complete the ballot, but for the first time in my forty-three years of voting I felt that I had voted wisely. I was able to see the actual ballot language and recheck issues and positions online before casting my vote.

Web sites that I found useful:

Ohio Secretary of State

• Voter Services
• Candidates
• Elections & Ballot Issues

League of Women Voters of Ohio

Ohio Election Central

Google – Type in Ohio Voter Information

Sarah Palin - My reflections

I've watched both conventions and two major debates as well as read daily newspapers, internet news sites, and viewed nightly news & commentary programs, so I consider myself more informed than I've ever been for a presidential election. I realize that campaigns are often won or lost on perceptions rather than principles and political foes frequently take the easy route of zeroing in on perceived weaknesses in character, youthful indiscretions and associations, or personal foibles. 

Our founding fathers wrote in Article 2 of the Constitution that candidates for the presidency should be at least thirty-five years of age, a natural-born citizen of the US, and a permanent resident in the United States for at least fourteen years.  

Presidential duties include:

• Giving Congress information of the State of the Union
• Recommending to Congress necessary and expedient Measures
• Convening one or both Houses of Congress on extraordinary occasions, and in case of disagreement between them, the president may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper
• Receiving ambassadors and other public ministers
• Taking care that laws be faithfully executed, and
• Commissioning all the Officers of the United States

Based on these qualifications and duties, all the candidates currently running for office are qualified as are millions of fellow Americans. If we picked our presidential candidates solely based on years of experience and age then John McCain and Joe Biden should be running for office. Instead we have the less experienced political candidate running at the head of the Democratic ticket. Senator Obama's real life experiences are substantial and include serving as a Civil Rights attorney and teaching constitutional law from 1992 - 2004 as well as serving in the Illinois senate from 1997 - 2004 and the US Senate from 2005 to date (10 years elected office).

Sarah Palin has twelve years of elected service from city council to mayor to governor of the largest state in the union. She also served on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004. If a man had these credentials under his belt, I don't think anyone would hold him up for the ridicule Governor Palin has had to endure in the media, talk shows, and entertainment industry. 

Is Governor Palin qualified to be Vice President, just a heart beat away from the president? According to the US Constitution she absolutely is. I do wonder if the media calling her a political light weight isn't meant to deflect away from comparing the lifetime achievements of the two presidential candidates.  

What is Edamame?

My favorite new snack food is edamame, which is the name given to the soybean pod picked just before the beans inside have hardened. The pods are then parboiled and frozen for distribution. Edamame provides fiber, protein, carbohydrates, plant omega-3 fatty acids, iron, Vitamins A, C and calcium.

It's been an Asian staple for over two thousand years and has become popular in the U.S. rather recently as a healthy snack alternative. The most confusing thing about edamame is figuring out how to pronounce it. I've embarrassed myself quite a few times in grocery stores when asking for help in finding it. I believe it is pronounced ed-a-ma-may and will most likely be located in the frozen health food area, not with the regular frozen veggies. Sams Club has it available for sale by the case. 

Although they look like green beans, the pod is not really edible - only the beans on the inside are to be eaten. Instructions on preparing the pods are contained on the packaging, usually involving boiling or microwaving for two to six minutes depending on the serving size. 

I've been buying them in small one or two portion packets that I keep frozen until I'm ready to snack. I zap them in the microwave for two and a half minutes and voila - healthy goodness, ready to eat.