Let's Talk Economics

I've never written a "content blog." My previous blog was about my life, so it was easy to write.

This one is more of a challenge, because I'm trying to be useful and entertaining on a subject perceived as dull. That's a tough call in this age of societal ADD. I had been posting links to news stories because I felt not enough people were up to date on events, and thought if they just saw the headline they'd go get informed.

Did that actually inform people? No...I don't think so. People have to want to click on a link, and the ones who want to already can do, from My Yahoo and iGoogle pages. That portion of my blog really wasn't accomplishing anything new or interesting, which runs contrary to my mission statement.

It also takes a lot of time to find those news stories and link to them. That's time I could be researching a topic to write a really great post about. And now that Blogger has come out with the option to schedule posts ahead of time (thank you BLOGGER!), I think the most efficient option is to write posts ahead of time. It's all about freeing up time and keeping options open.

So for now, we'll dispense with the news links...unless there are objections?

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I was tipped to a story by my mother that I want to bring to everyone's attention. It ties in directly to politics, because the price of commodities (think oil, corn, wheat, gasoline) is a big political issue right now (think about the nonsense about suspending the gas tax--like that will actually solve anything).

MSN Money posted an article from Jim Jubak about the insane prices of oil (and other things) that actually defy the rules of supply and demand. This is due to the fact that consumers are so scared they won't be able to get what they need--gasoline is a perfect example--they are willing to pay any price as long as it keeps coming.

It doesn't matter that our oil reserves have actually gone up since last month. It doesn't matter that world usage is still 100,000 barrels LESS than what's being produced every day. The price of oil keeps going up because people are so afraid of not being able to get oil they're not thinking straight.

I'm oversimplyfing by a long shot, but that's why I linked you to Jubak's article on scarcity markets. It was a very frustrating thing to read, because it made me realize (again) just how inflated oil and food prices are right now.

Read the article, it's good food for thought. That's all I have today...this post is long enough.

Columbus Government

Since I've moved, it's time to get acquainted with a new set of government officials. Let's start with the Mayor of Columbus and the City Council.

The city's website is pretty simple: http://www.columbus.gov/. I love it when it's that simple. The main page here has all kinds of links that are just pretty spiffy. The central features have some interesting news bites...hrm. Have to look into that.

The Mayor's Page has a lot of the same information as the main city page, but also has contact info for the Mayor.

The City Council has a main page, that branches off into all sorts of information about the council and it's individual members.

City Attorney has his own page.

As does the City Auditor.

Clerk of Courts has her own webspace.

And a list of Judges.



I think that covers it all. Now to update my sidebar links...



...and Now for Some News....

McCain, Clinton Win in Florida, from NPR

Army Balks at VA Help for Soldiers, from NPR

Afghan MPs Back Death for Blasphemy, from BBC

EU Leaders Call for Transparency, from BBC

Organizations Worried Over State Budget Troubles, from WVXU

Your Ohio Primary

ok...so I've moved to a whole different end of the state. That's kinda disturbing on some levels...but not, on others. But I'm still in Ohio, so thankfully many of my links are still valid. Changing them is the next big project I have.

But today, I wanna look into the primary. When it is, who can vote, etc etc. Let's go consult Google.

By a round-a-bout way, I found this handy dandy schedule. This guy has some pretty nifty graphics, so it's a bit better than my postage. Not a bad site on the whole...go check it out!

This tells us that Ohio has a joint primary (both Democratic and Republican parties hold primary elections the same day) on March 4th. This is after super-Tuesday, so it makes our primary even more irrelevant than most...kinda sad.

I believe the best way to investiage the how-tos of a primary is through the Ohio offices of the parties...so lets go back to Google.

The Ohio Democratic Website really kinda sucks. A lot. They don't even have the March 4 primary listed on their events calendar. In fact, they barely mention the primary at all. They do have a pretty robust information base in general terms, however.

The Ohio Republican Website is flashier, and better and getting their message out, but has even less real info. The national GOP website doesn't look so barren of info, and I was referred to it a few times...but I was looking for information on the Ohio primary. Didn't find it, and the GOP didn't list the primary with their events either.

I'm kinda disappointed in both these groups. Remind me why I'm registered Independent?

Maybe the Ohio Board of Elections? Long story short, not really.

ok, I had to walk away from the computer after 2 hours on this. I believe I saw a lil blurb back on the Ohio Democratic Party's site on their FAQs about registering with a party...their answer was no, but if you vote in a primary that will set your party affiliation. So it resets your registration? Apparantly. I couldn't find anything to clarify it, and I'm just about done.

Now for Some News...

Gaza Barrier Breached, from NPR

Slide May Not Presage Severe Recession, from NPR

Goths with Dog Leash Forced off Bus, from BBC

Iraqi Parliament Approves New Flag, from BBC (this actually does serve practical purpose)