To my sisters: there's nothing to see here...move along

In only his fourth veto ever, George W. Bush just blocked legislation expanding a children's health insurance program that would provide health care to 10 million American children for the next five years.

"The president and Republicans in Congress say that we can't afford this bill, but where were the fiscal conservatives when the president demanded hundreds of billions of dollars for the war in Iraq?" asked Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois.

That's right: $7 billion dollars a month to provide health care to AMERICA'S children vs. the $7 billion dollars a month we are currently spending on this war.

Hell, even 61% of Republicans support the children's health care bill.

It's such a shame he can't be elected to a third term.

My (other) sister has written a loving (ha!) tribute to me

as part of her series chronicling the members of her family.

The Hidden Springs Hillbillies: She'll Laugh With You, But She'd Rather Laugh AT You!

so my sister calls me up and she says

"You're a lot more worldly than I am. What do you know about Tanzania?"

What am I, a freakin' walking encyclopedia? As if I'm just going to spout off the population, current temperature and political climate. *snort!* Secretly, of course, I'm flattered. But I'm afraid I have nothing to offer her. Turns out her husband may be going there for some consultant work, and she'd go along too. She goes on to say "You know, Africa is just one of those places I've never had any desire to visit." I'm all: "WHAT??!!" Because Africa is probably my number one dream destination. What is more exotic, exciting, interesting than AFRICA? So, in the name of, uh, research I looked up Tanzania. Because, well, I love my sister and I'd probably never forgive myself if I encouraged her to go and she ended up in a pile of steaming lion poo.

Anyway. Imagine, if you will: (via lonelyplanet.com)

"Step out into the vast open plains of Tanzania and you suddenly feel very, very small. And so you should. You've just joined one of the largest, wildest animal populations in the world. Wildebeest, monkey, antelope, lion, cheetah, crocodile, gazelle, flamingo - they're all out there."

Behold, the pink:

Not to mention, Mt. Kilimanjaro:

and real, live Maasai!

Here's something I bet you didn't know:

MZUNGU! MZUNGU! The word mzungu, meaning 'white person' was coined in the days of the early European explorers. It comes from the Kiswahili verb kuzunguka: 'to wander around aimlessly, like a mad person'. (ha! Crazy tourists!!)

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My top 5 (or 8):

Africa

Bora Bora or Fijii or Cook Islands (somewhere tropical but not too touristy)

Galapagos Island

Denmark/Sweden/Holland

Costa Rica

Italy (for a year or so)

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No desire to go to:

Mexico

China

Las Vegas (my idea of hell on so many levels)

Disneyland

(do not click on those links; I don't know how to remove them! aarrgghh!)

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So. What are YOUR top 3 (or 5) travel destinations, if you could go ANYWHERE in the world?? Where would you NOT want to go?

autumn:

:: crisp air and the palpable smell of change on the way

:: flocks of geese honking overhead

:: putting summer clothes away and bringing out pants, socks, boots and sweaters

:: the surprising sound of the heater coming on for the first time in months

:: evenings reading in front of the fireplace in flannel pajamas

:: digging out my yarn and knitting and re-discovering the comforting sound of clicking needles

:: reds, oranges, rusts and yellows

:: treasure hunts through the park, looking for pinecones and acorns for autumn displays

:: down comforters and flannel sheets

:: Saturday afternoon walks amidst falling leaves

:: mowing the lawn for the last time of the season

:: fresh apple cider, bought from an orchard at Greenbluff

:: pumpkins, apples, gourdes, cornstalks

:: coats (coveting the one below...)

lookout, i'm feeling back to normal!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, caused a stir at a Senate hearing this week when he repeated his view that gay sex is immoral and should not be condoned by the military.

In March, the Chicago Tribune reported that Pace said in a wide-ranging interview: "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way."

"We need to be very precise then, about what I said wearing my stars and being very conscious of it," he added. "And that is, very simply, that we should respect those who want to serve the nation but not through the law of the land, condone activity that, in my upbringing, is counter to God's law." (italics mine)

ok. First of all, I didn't realize our nation was governed by "God's Law". Has this man heard of separation of Church and State? Second of all, I just do not understand how, if someone calls themselves Christian, they can have such a small-minded, hurtful and hateful attitude toward a certain sector of "God's children." Because if they believe in God, and believe that God created all of us, how do they justify homosexuals? Did God not create them? Or was there some sort of "design flaw" that caused them to BECOME homosexual once they were out of His hands?

Look, this war has gone on WAY too long and we have already lost thousands of soldiers. If someone, anyone, wants to join the military, I really don't think Gen. Pace can be all that choosy, regardless of how they get their rocks off.

I read the above story on cnn.com; there was also a poll you could take asking: "Do you agree with Gen. Peter Pace that homosexuality is immoral?"

Here are the results:
Yes 49% 2636 votes
No 51% 2760 votes

Total: 5396 votes

Almost HALF of our country thinks homosexuality is immoral??? This is so damn depressing, it makes me want to pack up my family and move to Denmark.

Meanwhile, I also heard this morning that by the time this war is over, we will have spent $600,000,000,000 on this war. SIX HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS. A war for which, in another recent poll, the large majority of Americans believe has done nothing to decrease the possibility of future terrorist attacks on our country.

I'm going to go crawl under my desk now.

I've chosen poorly

Yesterday, when Anna and I got home from school, she ran in the house to tell David that she's worn me down and I've agreed to get her a fish for her birthday. A Beta, to be exact. Acting appropriately excited, David said "Oh! I love fish! Especially with a little lemon!" Anna, who thankfully gets his sense of humor, put her hands on her hips, turned to me shaking her head and said "Mommy, you picked the WRONG man from the pound."

and that's just all I have today because my head? It turned into snot-factory over the weekend, so we're far too busy using an entire forest's worth of kleenex to do any deep thinking.

file under: WTF

Here's an interesting story:

CONCORD, New Hampshire (AP) —People who work with children are used to hearing all sorts of crazy things, but when a little girl mentioned at daycare that her uncle kept a dead baby at his house, it drew the attention of law enforcement.

What turned up in the New Hampshire home of Charles Peavey was a bizarre and macabre family heirloom: the mummified remains of a human infant.

According to Peavey, the 90 year old remains (referred to as "Baby John") is believed to be the stillborn child of a great-great uncle and have been passed down for generations. Baby John was treated as a family member and given cards on holidays and even a dried fish for a pet.

Police seized the mummy and tests confirmed the infant died of natural causes shortly after birth. "It's (Baby John) one of the few things from our family past that we have left,'' Peavey had written in a petition to the court. "And when I pass on, I was looking forward to passing it on to another family member, to keep some of the history for future family."


Call me sick, but "he was even given a dried fish for a pet" made me laugh out loud.