It’s almost here.

In less than two weeks, we have something to look forward to.

The beginning of the 2016 presidential race.

What was once an affair that lasted a few months is now a years-long event that is both emotionally and financially draining for the candidates as well as the American public, and I, for one, am kind of sick of it.

The primaries have taken the fun out of the conventions, and the endless debates have taken the fun out of the primaries.

There is no space for an October surprise because we know everything about the candidates by the time they get to the June primaries.

I believe in leaders, and not politicians. All of this campaigning has turned people who could be great leaders into great politicians, which are pretty horrible human beings, when you think of it.

There will never be another campaign like Jimmy Carter’s 1976 campaign. There is so much money in politics that no one can run on their laurels alone. And that kind of breaks my heart.

There are probably a million great leaders out there today who will never have the financial backing to run for even a state office, let alone a national office, if we don’t change the way our campaigns are run and financed.

I’ll care about who’s running in 2016 in 2016.

Changes to the school lunch program have caused quite a stir lately. The government, who picks up the tab for school lunches, have attempted to make school lunches healthier.

Anyone who has watched Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution can attest to the disgustingness of school lunches.

But what irks me about the reports is how they’ll talk about how kids are hungry, and then talk about how all this food is being thrown out, and then blame the government.  Um? Maybe if those spoiled kids would eat the food they’re throwing out, they wouldn’t be hungry.

The lunches are capped at 850 calories. I’m sorry, but that’s a lot. I’m on a plan that gives me 1,200 a day, plus what I burn working out, if I want to meet my weight loss goals. I might not always stay under that, but I sure do try!

But 850 is more than 2/3 of what I’m allowed a day. And I know that growing children need more food than adults, but still 850 for a whole meal seems like a lot.

For example, 850 calories is more than 5 pounds of baby carrots, just under 3 pounds of apples, or three slices of Little Caesar’s pepperoni pizza. I’m pretty sure I would be filled up on any of those, so I don’t see what the students are complaining about.

Yes, school lunches are not always going to be your favorite food. You know what I would do if school lunch wasn’t my favorite? I ate what I liked, skipped what I didn’t and ate a snack when I got home. It was my fault I was hungry, I was the one being picky, and no one thought to blame the cooks or the government.

The one who pays for the meal gets to make the say. If your kids or you don’t like what’s being served, make them lunch. No one said they had to eat the USDA food.

Let’s face it, I’m getting just as sick of politics as the rest of you, so I thought I’d write about something near and dear to my heart. My love of Star Wars.

Why is “Empire” the best movie? Because you’ve already fallen in love with the characters from “A New Hope,” significant plot twists are revealed and Han Solo is once again a bad ass, but here are my point-by-point reasons in chronological order:

1)Hoth: I love winter, if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to stand living here, so a whole ice planet holding the rebellion, yes please! I mean, there are Ton-Tons and a Wampa monster who kidnaps our hero. Not to mention we see the full-scale military power of The Empire with the AT-ATs storming the base.

2)Yoda: We finally meet the greatest Jedi master ever, enough said.

3)Lando Calrissian: Played by the ever-cool Billy Dee Williams, he’s the model frenemy turned friend who tries to save his city, but realizes his loyalties lie elsewhere. And how awesome of a name is Lando Calrissian? Seriously, it’s my #2 baby name after Obi-Wan Kenobi.

4)Dagobah: It’s just a neat swamp planet. I would love to travel to a galaxy where the planets are defined by one geographical feature.

5)Cloud City: It’s a mining city in the Clouds, led by the one and only Lando Calrissian. Enough said.

6)“I know” The BEST response to I love you, ever!

7)Carbon freezing: How cool would this be if it were real? I mean, a whole person frozen. And when Han is solidified in the horrible pose, it makes my heart break for Leia.

*SPOILER ALERT*

8)Major plot point reveal: Vader is Luke’s father, AKA Anakin Skywalker.

9)Mechanical hand: Can’t you wait until we have this technology?

10)Unrest: Han is frozen and given by Bobba Fett to Jabba the Hutt, Luke now know the identity of his father and needs to continue his Jedi training, we don’t know what’s going on in the love triangle between Luke-Leia-and-Han. Chewbacca is left without a best friend. So much has happened, but this movie does not end happily, which leaves you wanting more.

And that is why “Empire” is the best Star Wars movie EVER. The others have some obvious pluses, but I most-often sit down and watch “Empire.”

Ugh, this whole campaigning thing is really getting to me? Is it Thanksgiving yet?

I have to say, I’m getting sick of the whole “Chick-Fil-A” business. If I have to hear about chicken sandwiches and bigotry one more time, I just might shoot that Chick-Fil-A cow and have me some steak. And I personally support marriage equality.

Chick-Fil-A is a privately owned company and those that run it are allowed to have their opinions. Should they make their opinions publicly known? Probably not because you’ll anger people and divide them over f****** chicken sandwiches.

I’m really getting sick of politics and social issues. Be it birth control, gay rights or chicken sandwiches. Government needs to stop regulating social issues. Social issues will regulate themselves. I’m not worried about marriage equality because I know, in the long run, my generation, the generation that says wth to gay marriage, will one day be the ruling class and will be able to legislate and vote on these issues. Sure states have constitutional amendments defining marriage between a man and a woman, but amendments can change. Have you had a drink since prohibition in 1920?

So please, stop it with the g.d. chicken sandwiches. Whether you’re for or against them, just shut up about it!

I got a slightly disconcerting call today from a man who was upset that we refer to people as being from Dickinson when they were not born and raised here. If their driver’s license says Dickinson, that’s pretty much where they’re from.

His problem was with the influx of people who have moved to the area, especially Southerners, and especially those with criminal records, and that there was no way they could be considered local.

So when do you become “local?” Is it when you change your driver’s license? When you’ve bought a house? I’ve heard that you need to live in New York City for 10 years before you call yourself a New Yorker, does that same standard apply everywhere?

I believe in the ability to adopt a new hometown. Just because you’re born somewhere doesn’t mean you belong there. If Dickinson is hospitable to those coming here, they just might want to settle down, raise a family and make this their hometown.

Maybe the city shouldn’t see strangers, but friends it hasn’t met yet.

Maybe it’s just the liberal urban hippy in me, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why there aren’t more mixed-use buildings going up.

Last night, in an attempt to grab a bite to eat, my boyfriend and I realized we were down to about two sit-down restaurants in town that we both kind of enjoy and are in our price range. Two in the whole town. We either don’t like the rest or have had horrible service, which made me wonder why we don’t have more restaurants in the new hotels coming up.

Why can’t La Quinta hook up with Chili’s or Hampton with Red Lobster? This is one of the few towns I’ve been in that doesn’t have a restaurant with every hotel.

And I’m pretty sure we all want more retail. Hell, more was bought in Williston last year than Fargo, and that’s with far fewer shops to choose from in the Oil Patch town. We need housing, we need stuff, so why not put build apartments above boutiques like they used to? Downtown Dickinson has several apartments above businesses, why not expand that?

Sure, to an extent, there’s unlimited amount of land in North Dakota, but at the same time, I’m pretty sure we’d like to keep a lot of empty-ish. There’s still a need for pasture and farmland and prairie and badlands. It can’t be all urban and suburban. So why not build up a few floors instead of out? There are these things called stairs, escalators and elevators that take move people up, and could be utilized in these places.

Let’s give Dickinson a skyline!

I don’t eat fast food much anymore. But when I do and I order a soda (or a malted milkshake, for that matter), I’m often surprised at the size of it .

Sometime between my college days and now, restaurants decided to go up a size with their drinks, and it kind of baffles me. When I ordered a medium strawberry malted milkshake, I thought I was getting what was once medium, around the 20 oz mark. But what came was a giant bucket of ice cream, syrup and malt powder around the 32 oz mark. Who could eat that much ice cream in one sitting? And then there’s a size bigger than that? I knew I was pushing it with the 20 oz.

You go through a drive through and you have NO idea what you’re getting.

So has soda sizing gotten out of control? A little bit.

Will a ban on sodas larger than 16 oz work? Probably not.

First, there’s no cap on the number of sodas someone could purchase, so they could get 15 16 oz sodas if they want. And secondly, there’s the whole free refill business. I mean, sure you order a 16 oz soda, but then you go back for 12 refills, you really defeat the purpose.

And then there’s the ice situation. A lot of fast food places have self-serve beverage stations for dine-in and to-go customers, but those going through drive through (which I know in NYC aren’t many) and those eating at restaurants that don’t allow self-serve soda have no control over the ice-to-soda ratio. Sure, your cup is 32 oz, but the girl filled it with ice and topped it off with soda, so you really only got 12 oz of soda. Now cut that in half with the 16 oz cup, and you only got 6 oz of soda.

While the idea of portion control sounds nice, it’s really not practical. What would be nice is size standardization. All restaurants must follow standard sizing, give or take an ounce. Let’s say small = eight to 12 oz, medium = 18 to 22 oz and large = 28 to 32 oz. How simple would that be?

It bothers me a little bit the way personal lives can affect professional ones — and not in the way you’re thinking.

I’ve heard too many stories about bosses (usually unofficially) taking employee’s family and living situation into consideration when doling out compensation.

Whether someone lives on their own or with their parents or with roommates, owns or rents their house, is married or co-habitating or has children should not affect their pay. Theses things should neither increase nor decrease their compensation.

What should decided this is the job they do, the product they output.

If a mom has to leave early to watch her kids’ after-school production of “The Three Little Pigs” but gets her 40 in and gets her work done outside of 9 to 5, who cares?

If the recent college grad is able to live with their parents rent-free in order to save money, should they make less than the one whose parents live two states away and has to live on their own?

A man with a stay-at-home wife and a couple of kids should not make more than a single woman doing the same job, if they have comparable education, experience, skills and abilities.

The only thing that should determine your compensation is you — not your family or lack there of. People should be neither rewarded or punished for having families, just for doing their job.

Yesterday it was announced that a state representative from Fargo started a medicinal marijuana initiative that could put the issue to a vote by the people, if it gains enough signatures to be on the November ballot. But this drug shouldn’t be illegal (or as illegal) as it is.

First off, it’s a naturally (for the most part) occurring plant, not something cooked up in some dudes RV. If you believe in God, he put it there, if you believe in Mother Earth, she put it there…

We could collect taxes on pot. Think about how much money could be generated if the government took a chunk of all pot sales, and inversely how much money could be saved if we stopped incarcerating people for pot offenses.

It would also reduce violence at the Mexican border. Think of all those people who are killed trying to smuggle pot into the U.S. from Mexico. If it were legal here, it would be a think of the past.

And while pot has its risks, so does drinking a soda or eating steak. How many people have you heard of die from a marijuana overdose? Sure, it’s a lot like alcohol where it needs to be used responsibly, and those using it should refrain from driving or operating heavy machinery, among other things, but pot is a relatively safe substance, compared to some of the other crap we put into our bodies on a regular basis. (Be honest, when was the last time you ate a Little Debbie brownie? You wanted to shoot yourself, didn’t you?)

That’s not to say there aren’t negative effects, there are plenty, which is why I think, federally, marijuana found in amounts consistent with personal use should be decriminalized. It would be the equivalent of a traffic violation: a fine that the government would then be able to collect, and therefore generate revenue. From there states can do what they like.

What do you think? Will North Dakota make marijuana legal for medical use? Will marijuana laws loosen?

Please, discuss:

It seems like more and more, politicians personal choices are under scrutiny. And it’s not just major person decisions, like what religion to practice or who they’re married to. But tiny, little things, like whether they own a dog or what kind of toothpaste they use.

Do our politicians really need to be just like us? Have we gotten to a point in America that we absolutely can’t like someone if they don’t prefer the same type of cake as us? Do we want our leaders to share this lack of tolerance? What happens when they visit a leader of another country? Are they just supposed to walk out if the other guy prefers tea to coffee?

I think people miss out on great relationships because they look into too many small details, and miss the broad picture of someone’s person.

I think we could miss out on a great leader if we spend too much time focusing on little details rather than looking at their political views and policies as leader.

And what makes us focus on such unimportant things? Is it the 24-hour news cycle? the dumbing down of America? the other guys putting stuff out there? Maybe it’s a combination of all three, but it needs to stop.

Let’s look at our leaders as leaders… how well do they do? What is their track record in previous capacities?

Who cares if they don’t use the same toothpaste? They probably have different teeth than you!