I am sitting here watching the Democratic debate and recalled a thought I have had a few times in regard to this political season, especially in regard to the massive amounts of money raised and spent. It's staggering to think of all the money that has been dumped into the campaigns and then dumped into television ad buys and lawn signs (and all the rest). I am an Obama supporter, and with all this talk of change and a new kind of politics, I was kind of hoping for something new, something changed in regard to the money situation -- something beyond being able to raise a ton of it and spend it more or less in the usual manner. (Granted, Obama gets points for not accepting money from PACs and federal lobbyists).

A friend and I got quoted (barely) in the local paper after attending the biodiesel co-op meeting a few weeks ago. I was pleased that despite the brevity of the quote, they got it right -- my main interest is the fact that they are planning to produce biodiesel from waste vegetable oil (WVO) instead of virgin soybeans. Click below for the story and a link to the paper.

Laryn Kragt Bakker of Avondale said he was previously a member of a biodiesel co-op and had been searching for another one to join.

‘‘My main interest was that they’re producing their own fuel from used vegetable oil,” he said, adding he was intrigued by the production process.

‘‘I’d like to make my own biodiesel now, but I just don’t have the space for it,” said Chris Fuller of Washington, D.C. ‘‘But [I’m] definitely considering joining, especially if they’re gung-ho about producing, and it seems like they are.”

Alleia gets  baptized on Sunday...one of the things that I've come to appreciate more about infant baptism is the emphasis on covenant and on God's grace -- the belief that God works in mysterious ways and has pledged himself to his people over and over again. While there is (of course) something very beautiful about an adult being baptized, it seems to me that infant baptism strikes a blow against the individualism that is so deeply embedded in much of traditional evangelicalism and the modernist notion that Christianity is simply a concept you mentally assent to. God's grace is so big that the people he claims as his own haven't always "prayed the prayer" or don't even necessarily know his name.

UPDATED: 3/10/08 Youtube video of the segment added.

The executive director where I work told me that there were some freegans featured on Oprah the other day (which may have helped convince one of her sisters to eat a meal she prepared which included some food we had shared from our dumpster diving bounty). I've take a few clips from the online slideshow and pasted them below with a link to Oprah's site (and the blog of the freegans who were on the show). Kudos to Daniel and Amanda -- looks like they got some good soundbites in and raised the issue of consumption on a show with an enormous reach. It's nice to imagine the "Oprah effect" potentially convincing people to live more simply and consume less.

What made them think it was a good idea in the first place? Daniel says freegan ideas about consumption fit into their beliefs. "We try to live very simply, and we don't spend a lot on ourselves. We are very happy with having a little," he says. "We like to make it a priority to share a lot of our money. A lot of that comes from our Christian values of sharing and generosity."