Since I didn't do weird news yesterday, I thought I'd do a quickie today. I also thought I'd write a short little blog post...

Anywho, here's a little story for ya. Some Canadian businessmen used black bears to defend their crop. Now unfortunately, what they're growing is illegal. And feeding the bears dogfood to get them to stay in the area is illegal. So now, about 15 black bears are roont, thousands of dollars were spent in legal fees, and people are going to be locked up.

What was the crop?

Cannabis sativa.

I know I have kind of a controversial view of this plant in some of the circles I run in. Being a member of my church, I should refrain from drugs. I agree with this to an extent, although I think my ideals are quite a bit different from someone who leaves the hospital with a vaccinated circumcised baby and a prescription for anti-depressants.

As I've stated before, I believe that one should be able to grow an herb for personal use in one's garden. I would like to have a marijuana plant nestled in next to my oregano, basil, and chamomile. If I'm stressed, I'd like to be able to make myself a cup of tea to relax instead eating of a fat bowl of ice cream or popping a pill. Now, I realize there are other ways to de-stress, but I feel like it should be my choice whether of not to ingest a particular plant.

The war on drugs is a joke. And although this story is from Canada, the same sort of illogic applies here in this country as well. The govt could have made so much more money sanctioning this farm, taking taxes, and regulating the sale of the plants. No bears would have been harmed, no one would have gone to jail, and those patients who need to use rather than abuse could have had a safer alternative.

All that being said, I feel (as always) that I should post a disclaimer. I don't take this substance into my body. If I did, I'm sure this post would be funnier. Also because it's illegal. So my husband, who is blind, will continue to have problems with his vision, will continue to be in pain, and will continue to remain stressed simply because it is illegal in this state and most of this country to self-medicate with marijuana.

This post could be so much longer, but I'll spare you. I know that most you dear readers, don't advocate the use of this plant for many reasons.

But I bet you'll agree, the story would've been much better if it had been the arresting officers were eating dogfood and smoking pot rather than the bears...

REALLY?!?

more vacations?

I don't care if O is your boy, this is getting ridiculous. 2 more trips planned and one is to FL to encourage us 'Mericans to go to the beach. Hey guess what Obama? It ain't about the possibility of oil in the water that's keeping us away. It's the lack of money! Seriously, most of us that would go visit the beaches down there know what's going on with the water. We have friends to ask, or some way or another, of finding out if there really are little balls of oil floating around near the Gulf beaches. Probably the greasiest thing down there will be your politics. My mind won't be eased in the slightest by seeing you and your family cavorting and frolicking at the shore while I try to find some part time jobs while juggling the Hamster not being in preschool because I can't afford $600 for his preschool anymore.

So I say, screw you Mr. President. And watch out for oil-slicked jellyfish...

A little bloggy sampler, with a side of southwest ranch sauce

Weird News Wednesday
Do you like pigeons? Yeah, me neither, but these pictures are pretty cool.

Conversations with kids
Bud, (pretending to be a dad) "You are bad! Go to your room!"
Sassafras "You better be careful, or I'm calling Child Amusement!"

(We can work on the psychology of that conversation later...)

Politics
What the crap is going on with the big O saying it's perfectly OK for Iran to have nukes? You don't give mental patients big sharp knives to play with and hope nothing bad will happen.

Daily Life Updates
*We should close on the house by the end of the month. We are also very poor, and will qualify for some forgivable loan type programs to add to the down payment.
*My chemistry class starts Monday. Coincidentally, finals for the other school I'm attending also start Monday. Can we say stress, boys and girls?
*The B&B James whisked me away to was wonderful. If you live around here, and you need a relaxing place to go visit, ask me where it was.
*The kids get out of school Friday. Did I mention I won't be? These next two weeks should be, uh, interesting.

So I probably won't be posting too too much for a little while.

But I still love you.

I thought about posting yesterday. I had a good one brewing in my head about the relationship between government policy becoming softer on drugs while simultaneously becoming more powerful and controlling in other areas. I wanted to examine how Americans are quite happy with giving up their freedoms as long as they have their opiate, so to speak. I may still do that one soon.

But yesterday I came home to a for sale sign in the yard. I called our landlord, asking what the hell was up with that. He sort of chuckled and said the realtor wasn't supposed to put up the signs until we'd been told. Bad form, jerk, bad form.

Because we didn't sell our house in GA until a year ago, we couldn't buy a house here when we moved 3 years ago. So we've been renting. Well, we couldn't buy last year either, because for 2 years, we haven't had a significant source of income due to both James and I being students. So at this point, we have a few options, and none of them sound very appealing. We can buy a house, but it has to be in a crappy neighborhood and/or cost just a few K, OR go back to a teeny apartment only suitable for hobbits, OR move 20 miles out of town, OR hide and cry. Posting on my blog wasn't really an option yesterday.

What do y'all think? Any ideas?

On a lighter note, I think a sense of humor can be somewhat genetic. Situations that strike a person as funny stimulate the brain a certain way, releasing dopamine, and other feel-good enzymes, in a particular quantity or in a particular area. Since DNA contains the "blueprint" for a person's brain structure, then it stands to reason that a kid would come hardwired similarly to their parents. And then nurture comes into play later. Pickles used to constantly ask if things were funny. "Is that so funny, Mama? Is that so funny?"

What made me take note of this was Hamster tonight. In our bad parent moments, we let Hamster stay up past his bedtime. He's very much a night owl (thanks, Mom) and sometimes we get tired of fighting it. So we're watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail for the 253rd time. Hamster, in his three-year old glory, burst out laughing as King Arthur came on the screen riding an invisible horse and his page clapped coconut shells together. "No horse, Mom! There's no horse!"

Guilty until proven innocent - 3 grits

This really bothers me.

Blagojevich, IL's illustrious governor, has been impeached, Jan. 9th actually, for crimes he allegedly committed. Him being impeached it what bothers me. I don't personally like what I've seen of him. I mean, have you seen videos of him? Have you read some of the transcripts of his conversations about selling the big O's senatorial seat? He seems to be quite the slimeball.

HOWEVER, because he has not been convicted of anything, I don't think he should have been impeached. Let the Lt. Guv take over until it's done with, sure, but don't toss the guy out before due process of law has taken place. It's kind of scary because it opens the door to other governors being taken down because someone didn't like what they were doing/saying/spending.

I'm editing this post to include a (much more thought out reaction than mine) response. Just in case you don't read the comments. I feel this comment includes a lot more info than I presented and provides a complete thought. And that's what I get for posting without doing research. :) I've always been a little more into sci fi than poli sci anyway.
Thanks, Charlotte.

"I have been thinking about this a couple days and I have to disagree with you. Impeachment is a completely separate entity from legal proceedings.

Impeachment is the legislative branch's equivalent of making formal charges against a government official. Once an official is impeached, the legislature can exam the evidence and come to a conclusion of his guilt and need to remain in office (acquitted) or be removed (convicted). It doesn't matter if the official has charges pending or has been convicted or has yet to have charges filed. In fact President Nixon resigned before he could be impeached and President Clinton was impeached, didn't get enough "conviction" votes after the evidence was examined to have him removed from office.

By evoking the "guilty until proven innocent" part of our constitution you have mixed our judicial system with our legislative system. Impeachment is a legislative checks and balance and is not related to the judicial system's due process of law (although most impeachments are based on indictable offenses).

I don't know how Illinois handles their impeachment in their constitution, but I'm sure it is similar to the US Constitution's system. Also I am unsure where in the process they are- if at impeachment phases or conviction phases, but it behooves them to move quickly and the constitution is in no way overrun by what they are doing. In fact, they are specifically given the right to do so. "

post level 5 grits, go get your tin foil hat - I'll wait...

some Dem outrages for the day

Al Franken, you know, Stuart Smalley from SNL? has stolen a Senate seat. Since the elections, 2 months ago, which Franken lost btw, Franken has "discovered" enough votes to now win the election. He has done this through a series of recounts, of finding lost votes, and throwing out votes for his competitor. They are now planning on seating this thief. Can you imagine the outrage if a candidate who's favorite color wasn't blue tried this garbage? Where is the media on this? Why are only online and talk radio talking about this? Because news media is biased. This is the kind of thing that makes me feel impotent as a voter. How can my vote possibly count if the candidates can spin the results in whatever direction they choose? Granted this is in Minnesota and maybe their brains are frozen from the cold weather, but I don't think so. Don't the voters in this district care that their votes don't matter? Maybe they don't. After all, Franken is good enough, he's smart enough, and gosh darn it...

You want another one? Oh c'mon, you know you do. What's Obama's view on the fighting in Gaza? What? You don't know either? Maybe he's just busy moving to D.C. He'll get around to it. People have been fighting in that region for at least 2000 years, it's not like it's that urgent. Just more people getting killed and whatnot. Even though historically Israel is an ally. And we stick our nose in every where else in the world. And we declared war on terror. No never mind. Let's decide what sector of private business to bail out next! How about toys? We can't function as a nation if our children don't have enough toys. Think of the children!

ehhhhhh.........