2012/10/08 – Joey Tung's Blog

Happy Thanksgiving to You, You…but not You

The one object I will always associate with Thanksgiving is the memory of a magnificent, succulent turkey sitting in the middle of my dinner table– even if I haven’t had a turkey for Thanksgiving for two years now. However, I have alternates. I have food on my table that is equally as satisfying.

Unfortunately, not everyone gets an alternative.

The Daily Bread Food Bank has only reached one-third of their donation goals. As of Thanksgiving today,” $265,000 were collected along with 155,000 pounds” of canned food, a far cry from their goal of raising $400,000 and 400,000 pounds of canned food. They have seen a considerable increase in the number of people who need to come to food banks since the recession yet no particular increase in donations.

I feel that this is to be expected. The recession has affected most people, and those who were already at their financial limit were pushed over the edge and now need the help of food banks. Those who were doing adequately now have to watch every penny they spend. With the prices soaring nowadays, most notably in “gas prices, food prices, and rent prices”, it is no wonder that people don’t have spare cash to spend on donating.

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*Side note: The Daily Bread Food Bank as well as many other food banks are still accepting donations! Drop by your local participating grocery stores as well as fire halls to donate. Most needed items: 1) pasta 2) baby food 3) canned vegetables

So, Obama or Romney?

After the debate that happened on October 3rd, it is evident to those who watched it that Mitt Romney delivered a stronger performance that night. Will this be the deciding factor as to who will win the presidential election? Certainly not.

Just days after the the debate ended, Romney already has a 4% lead over Obama, a sizable turnover as Obama was originally in the lead by 9%. Clearly Romney gained a boost after the debate, but is this enough? Reports show that despite the poor execution, Americans are starting to realize that the economy has not been as bad as it was years ago; some might even say that it has gotten better.

Based on personal judgement, I believe that people value personal experience over public wins. Even though Romney has narrowed the race with his strong presentations, he is still running against the current president, someone who already has valuable experience as to how to run a country. People are creatures of habit and tend to avoid change because change is unknown; change is unfamiliar.

As a follower of the past two presidential elections, I believe, and hope, that Obama wins, mainly because I feel that Americans have failed to realize that the poor economic state that they are in wasn’t brought on by Obama.

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Photo:

Flickr