Yet another guide to that tricky "Road to Recovery" courtesy of the Republicans in Congress

Brought to us from Nate Silver over at fivethirtyeight.

What can you do with a glossy blue pamphlet?

Instead of an actual budget, the Party of NO, er, the Republicans in Congress offered nothing but a Glossy Blue Pamphlet to the American people. Must've been tough to come up with that number. Oh, wait it didn't include any numbers. Hmm...

I'm Seeing Double...

Is anyone else having a hard time telling the difference between this:



And this:

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In my head, I'm having a hard time telling the difference. These two men sound exactly alike, and the long drawn out pauses...they're driving me nuts!

Not Impressed With This Season

I have to admit, I am HATING this season of Amazing Race (sorry, Lula- I couldn't wait for your update!). It is only my second season watching, and every time I watch it I get angry.

First and foremost, I absolutely can not stand Victor and Tammy. I just want to slap Victor's rediculous grin off his face. He is so amazingly cocky- how many times can he mention per episode that he is a lawyer?? News flash, Victor- nobody cares or is impressed that you are a lawyer! There are plenty of lawyers- get off your high horse. Then, I loved how Tammy said Sunday, "our dad thinks we're so privledged"- gee, I wonder if it's because last week you said the biggest car you ever drove is a Mercedes Benz, or because while others were crying about the poverty the Indians lived in, they were laughing and thought it was cute that the children were naked eating elephant dung. Ughhh- they make me sick! Now, granted, part of the reason I hate them is because of Nick and Starr from last season, and perhaps that is not fair. But, honestly, they just annoy me to no end! If they win, I have vowed to never watch the show again- and I mean it, I dislike them that much!

Another thing I hate about this season: the U-Turn. When the U-Turn was given, it was rediculous because you had to go straight from the U-Turn to the pit stop, meaning there was no time to make up the time lost from the u-turn- whoever got u-turned was going to be kicked off! It's like they purposely want to take out any suspense that could have been generated. Also, I'm mad they kicked off the strongest team. What I hate about most reality shows is that they always kick off the best team/person so the best person never wins- which I hate. With this u-turn, they were able to kick off one of the strongest teams- which annoyed me.

Also, why do they cast beekeepers and hillbillies? Just so we can get a good laugh at their ignorance? They obviously don't have a chance to win, they just put them on so we can make fun of them. They might as well only have 9 teams.

Then, with this particular season, everything has been perfectly predictable. This happened last season as well, and it's just boring. For instance, I can pretty much guarantee that barring some miracle, the stuntmen will be kicked off next week. We all knew it would either be the stuntmen or the blondes kicked off on Sunday, but it didn't really matter because whoever wasn't kicked off would be kicked off next week.

Sunday's episode, of course, was the most predictable. Victor and Tammy started in front and stayed in front the entire time. Then there was a large cluster of people who stayed a large cluster of people the entire time. In last were the blondes who stayed in last the entire time. The only reason they came close to catching up is because the stuntmen stupidly chose the road block that was 100,000 times harder and more time consuming then the other (another annoyance- road blocks should be equal, and those two were definitely not).

I am sure some of you are loving this season, but I am definitely not!

The Separation of Church and State

A few months ago I did a post on an Iranian woman who'd been horribly disfigured by acid because she'd refused a marriage proposal. Her attacker had been sentenced to the same fate, and so it seemed justice had finally taken a more fair right turn in that particular case in the Arab world. Or so I thought. Was that sentence a separation of church and state? I know little of the Muslim faith, but if I were wool gathering I would bet that judge's ruling had more to do with public opinion and their religious dogma than the government of Iran enforcing the laws of the land. Because the two are intertwined in many Arab countries.

In Saudi Arabia, a top cleric refused to annul a forced marriage between an 8 year old and a 47 year old man, as long as the man agreed not to have sexual relations with the girl until she'd reached puberty - whatever that means.

"It is incorrect to say that it's not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger," Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, the kingdom's grand mufti, said in remarks quoted Wednesday in the regional Al-Hayat newspaper. "A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she's too young are wrong and they are being unfair to her."

Christoph Wilcke, a Saudi researcher for Human Rights Watch said, "We've been hearing about these types of cases once every four or five months because the Saudi public is now able to express this kind of anger -- especially so when girls are traded off to older men," Wilcke said.
Wilcke explained that while Saudi ministries may make decisions designed to protect children, "It is still the religious establishment that holds sway in the courts, and in many realms beyond the court."

In another case in Saudi Arabia, a 75 year old woman was sentenced to forty lashes for having her nephew and a friend of his bring her a loaf of bread. Forty lashes!! For having a non-immediate relative visit her of the opposite sex. What about those men I wonder, were they also convicted? Of course not, it's always the woman's fault, no matter her age.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, in Brazil a 9 year old girl who'd become pregnant with twins after being abused by her step-father was allowed to have an abortion - it's legal in Brazil in the case of rape or medical emergency - and what did the Catholic Church do? They excommunicated her mother for allowing it and the doctor for performing the procedure! Even though the child and the twins would've most likely died if allowed to continue to term. What of the vagabond who impregnated her? The church is still mulling over his case because being a rapist isn't as bad apparently.

With the Bernie Madoff's, the Governor Blagojevich's, and more than one case of corrupt judges, I am more than grateful we live in a country where church and state are supposed to be separate. But we must be vigilant. One must only take a brief look around us in other parts of the world to know what can happen if our rights are challenged, or taken away by corrupt people right here at home.

John McCain Was Right!

Yesterday I ran a million errands- including driving all across town and back in rush hour traffic because my husband Ben wanted Good Times for dinner (I wanted to go to a nice sit down restaurant and have a nice evening, but he wanted fast food, so that's what I got him). I came home, and Ben was home. I had a million things to carry in from my errands, so I did something I have never done before: I honked the horn in the garage so he could come out and help me carry things- including our daughter- in.

Honest to goodness, I kid you not- he opens the garage door. He is talking on his cell phone, and he points to his phone and gives me a look that says, "don't bother me, I'm talking on the phone" and shuts the door and goes back inside. I can't believe it! He can't possibly talk on the phone AND carry a diaper bag??????

So, John McCain was right- men CAN NOT do more then one thing at once!! You all remember in the debates he kept saying Obama was trying to take on too much at once. I now agree with McCain. It is absolutely NOT the men who are ruling the world- they are not capable. It is the women. I am convinced Michelle Obama is the one truly running the White House right now!

What is it with Facebook?

I agree Facebook is really weird. Anyone else think it's weird? Do I want to be tormented by people I haven't seen or thought about since high school again? Or better yet elementary school? What is it with people who have 250 friends. Really? 250...huh. I haven't had that many friends in my entire life. I just don't get it.

Natalie Portman and Rashida Jones Speak Out

NATALIE PORTMAN & RASHIDA JONES Speak Out from Natalie Portman

Is It the Right Thing to Do?

In CO right now, we have a bill that is being voted on that I found interesting. I am not sure what I think about it, and would love opinions- it's a great topic of discussion.

The bill would allow children of illegals to pay in-state tuition for college if they met certain criteria: they attended a CO high school for 3 years, had good enough grades, and some other things that I can't remember.

Surprisingly, a number of high profile Republican party leaders are supporting this bill, to which I give them huge kudos. I don't know if I agree with this bill or not, but I know those leaders are going to take a ton of heat from their party for crossing party lines and doing what they feel is right, and I can definitely respect somebody for being willing to do that- regardless of what party they are in. That takes courage and guts, and I think that is wonderful.

Back to the bill. I don't want to get into the tax costs of illegals- health care, etc. Let's isolate this to just this one issue of in-state tuition, otherwise it gets too out of hand. Right now the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition is about $20,000- making college unacessible for most of these children. It is not their fault they came to America- their parents brought them here. Should they be punished for what their parents did, or allowed the same access as citizens?

At first I didn't like this bill. Now I am not sure. I can see some merit to letting them pay in-state costs. First and foremost, if they are educated, that helps all of our society. But, I also see the cons- is it fair to the citizens? This bill would NOT give them access to pell grants or scholarships as far as I understand, it would simply be that they could pay in-state tuition.

Any thoughts?