New London, Connecticut is attempting damage control resulting from public outrage at the recent Supreme Court decision. But here's a snippet from their website: “The most notable result of these efforts is the recent completion of Pfizer, Inc.'s $300 million dollar Global Research and Development Headquarters on the City's waterfront. This is what New London is all about.” -- from the New London, Connecticut website, today. http://ci.new-london.ct.us/nlpages/general_information_sp.htm...

If you think property owned by industry is more important than property owned by private citizens, you might be a communist. "The distinguishing feature of communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property." -- Communist Manifesto. If people have become angry with your opinion that people should not be allowed to fully own property, then you might be a communist. "We Communists have been reproached with the desire of abolishing the rig...

I pay a LOT of money for health insurance with a prescription benefit. My daughter is sick, needed some medicine so I went to the pharmacy after her doc had called it in. They were 60 dollars! Ack. I'd not bugeted for such extravagance. Eye drops and a bottle of cough medicine. On the up and up... cough medicine is coming in very interesting shades nowadays. I've seen the red, pink, purple, clear, and yellow even. But this... this is new. Her last bottle was a greenish blue. The liqu...

First and foremost, I need to state that I teach what you would call "mainstream" kids. The ones who are "high achievers" are sectioned off into "AP" classes for college prep. So my mainstreamers are those who are anywhere from gifted (but don't want the AP pressure/work) to those who need serious education modifications. These kids are often precious. Sometimes they surprise me. I try my best to love them all. I teach them as much as I can squeeze into 50 minutes every day. I don't belie...

I'm not what you would call strictly a Palestinian sympathizer. I am one of those who remember Jerusalem in prayer regularly -- as well as all those affected by this war. I pray Israel makes right decisions with its power. I am including in my blog some political cartoons from a Palestinian site: http://rafah.virtualactivism.net/details/cartoons.htm. I think these cartoons and the site itself represents the Palestinian cause in a way I've not seen with such clarity. Both sides use propaganda...

1. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (100%) 2. Orthodox Quaker (89%) 3. Eastern Orthodox (84%) 4. Roman Catholic (84%) 5. Seventh Day Adventist (81%) 6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (61%) 7. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (60%) 8. Islam (58%) 9. Orthodox Judaism (58%) 10. Hinduism (55%) 11. Jehovah's Witness (52%) 12. Jainism (46%) 13. Bahá'í Faith (43%) 14. Liberal Quakers (42%) 15. Theravada Buddhism (40%) 16. M...

Tell me about Mexico! I need to know lots... What's the best way to get around Mexico? How dangerous are small towns really? What do I need to take with me? (Packing as lightly as possible) How expensive is vehicle rental there, generally? (Jeep?) Is it safe for a female to drive in Mexico alone? With a child? How safe are the Hostels? Any you'd recommend in the Pacific? (Jalisco?) How much money is NEEDED for two weeks? Don't have any answers... would appreciate the h...

Yesterday, my daughter had an issue with a piece of skin near her nail. Those rips of skin that hang off are the WORST! She picked up a terry-style pony tailer and one of its threads got stuck to her little piece of skin. She came carefully walking into the kitchen with this pony tail holder dangling from her finger as if by magic. I saw the very thin green thread when she got close enough. "Don't touch it!" she said -- as only a kid can. "I can cut the skin," I said. I got some nail ...

I and a handful of friends of mine have Starbucks names. You know how they ask you for your name when you get the coffee? It's fun to have a great name that's not yours but that is not anyone else's and you use it each time you go... they know you as that name if you're a regular and it's just fun to have a secret Starbucks identity. A friend of mine as been trying to get my brother to come up with a Starbucks name forever... he resists. My friend says mockingly, "But they'll KNOW who you...

I just bought Julieta Venegas's CD "Si" a week ago. It has not left my CD player. I know all the songs now. I have no favorite song. I look forward to the next song as much as I'm sad the last one is over. This whole CD rocks. She is an amazingly talented muscian! She plays the acoustic guitar in her songs, the accordian, sings (como no!) and WROTE all the songs herself. She has a talented cast of musicians filling in the gaps (record scratches, bass, synthesizers, electric guitar, et cet...

Just thinking about having surgery. I could live my life without having it, but do I want to? Yes, it would improve the quality of my life. But every time under the knife is a chance. And oi vei, it just is so disturbing, the actual thought of it all. Thank God for modern medicine, but I'm having the hardest time with this. Insurance will pay for it as it's a health deal... yowsers. But I'm just putting it off. If I did it and got it over with, I'd feel better. Nothing to do about ...

It was only a matter of time, really. A nation like Japan, a world leader, booming economy, and now in need of military strength for serious defense in a volitile part of the world, needs a strong military. Their economy isn't doing as great as it was once doing and the PM can't get respect from the people. A military would certainly boost the economy, even if it at first triggered debt. I'm not saying the strategy to pull pacifism is motivated solely by economics, but cash talks. The...

I guess I have to start with why I write. At first, I thought, “Catharsis. Definitely.” But really, I don’t think I do a lot of that in my blog, really. I’m not much into the truly personal stuff. Sometimes I do but it’s secondary or tertiary. I don’t write to record my most intimate stuff. I write poetry for that, sure, but I don’t publish it here. Not the right medium, I don’t think. No offense, web poets, but I think this is more of a prose place. And something about my poetry is s...

World War III heating up? Japan is steadily dumping its pacifism. Link , Link , Link , Link , Link . It is allying itself with the UK and the US right now because of N Korea and China's threat to them. Are we forming the base for WWIII alliances as we speak? Key Players as I see them: In the Left Corner -- France, Germany, Middle East (sans Israel), N Korea, and China. (Allegations of behind-the-back deals and winking at behavior have been made.) In the Right Corne...