Political Nutrition

An open letter to those at the corner of Oracle and Ina today. You know who you are. And now we do too. You wrap yourselves in the American flag yet you know nothing of America. You carry signs saying NO Amnesty. Well I say Amnesty not Ignorance. In fact, you all stand on the corner chanting and waving flags, protesting the fact that a Federal Judge said NO to warrantless arrests. If someone arrested you without a warrant you would stand on the mountain top to protest that this is America and they CANNOT do that. You are so wrapped up in your hatred, bigotry and scapegoating you cannot hear the truth even when it is being repeated day after day. But I am stubborn, so I will try again. Illegal immigration is not on the rise, it is on the decline. I won't cite the numbers, for you will not believe me. So look it up yourself. Crime? That too is down here in Arizona, not up. We don't have more crime on the border, we have more crime SOUTH of the border. Why? Because we keep ...

Ok. So my birthday is fast approaching and I'm not happy about it. Why is it all my childhood friends are all turning 50 this year. Coincidence? Cruel Fate? And here I'm still in my 30's. Give or take. But. I did have tickets Wednesday for Elton John. That was a bright spot. Then he got food poisoning. And I could sense the impending doom. House of cards. So how amazing was it that last night Sir Elton showed up to give us that concert we had all anticipated. He said "I cannot NOT come and sing for you." And so he did just that. 3 hours of unadulterated musical bliss. Now I've seen Elton John before. I'm approaching elderly after all. Maybe not quite as old as some of the other fans in the audience. Whew. Maxine's got nothin on them! But as a teen I absolutely loved the Yellow Brick Road concert at Nassau Coliseum. And a few years ago, got to see a whole different style show with The Red Piano in Vegas. But nothing, nothing, compared to last night. ...

Every year on this day I remind my daughters to say Thank You to their ancestors who fought the good fight and gave us the freedom we have today. Freedom that some would slowly but surely take from us if we aren't vigilant. So before entering into my rant for today: Hats off to my childrens' forefathers:  Lemuel Sturtevant. Lieutenant, Massachusetts Line Daniel Baldwin.  Private, Connecticut Line Elijah Baldwin.  Private, Connecticut Line John Dean. Corporal New Hampshire Militia, Battle of Bennington Ambrose Barnett. Private, 14th Virginia Regiment William Johns. Private, 5th Pennsylvania Regiment, at Valley Forge Valentine Coosard. Private, New Jersey Militia, POW at Sugar House Levi Davis. Private, Maryland Line Gilbert Ritchey. Private Pennsylvania Line Real Patriots. Real People. Who Deserve Real Respect. Read a little about what one such ancestor endured.  Valentine Coosard was taken prisoner at the Battle of Fort Washington, and jailed at the...

I see it everywhere. FML. At first glance I thought it meant something about families. yeah yeah. Smack me on the forehead stupid, I know. But I just couldn't find any phrase to fit. So then I figured, some new kid slang. I tried my damndest to decipher it....to no avail. My girls laughed. Really mom? Really? You don't know what FML means? But now I do. It just hadn't happened to me yet. But here I am. It's 106 F'ng degrees and the Governor is talking about decapitated bodies in the desert and 6 year old drug mules and the schools are broke and I can't sell my F'ng house and so now I know what FML means. I shouldn't. But I do. I'm supposed to be living in the beautiful aristic, culturally diverse paradise known as the southwest. Instead I'm living in the ugliest place on earth. My friends across the country assume I want to leave because I'm afraid. You know, of Mexican criminals crossing the border. I am afraid. That's true. Of the...

So my husband was very sweet today and braved the harsh Arizona sun to venture out to the mailbox and bring me the daily lot. I was busy shoveling Cheerios in my mouth and trying get my 5 minutes of lunch out of the way to go back to my incredibly chaotic work day, when he casually tossed an item on the table and said, "Saint Sarah?" This of course caused me to come perilously close to choking on said Cheerios. But yes, lo and behold, there was my beloved copy, well, maybe not so beloved because it's a cheap-ass print job, but my likable enough copy of Newsweek with my guide and mentor on the cover. Ok, not so much guide or mentor as favorite dartboard pin-up...Sarah Palin. With the words, big and bold as you please, SAINT SARAH underneath. I was disturbed, yes, so much so I thought there is no way I am going to even open this issue. But of course I still had at least 5 or 6 spoonfuls of cereal to go, so I flipped it open to a random page. And just about spit the cere...

Especially when you live in Arizona. And no, I'm not aiming for a political metaphor. With few exceptions, you don't find too much grass in Southern Arizona. No sounds of mowers humming or smell of freshly cut grass on a Saturday morning. No lush green manicured lawns to envy. No sprawling out flat on your back in the park and making animals out of clouds on a spring day. In fact we have no spring. Don't really have seasons. We have Summer, which is hot. We have winter, which is not as hot. We have the rainy season, which means a 10% chance of rain on any given day rather than 0%. Umbrellas aren't a common household item by the front door. Sure it's pretty in its own way day here. Some people find the desert beautiful. I'm just not one of them. I'll admit I was lured by the swaying palms and crystal blue pools surrounded by a manicured lawn...at the hotel we stayed at that first time. I said "I can live like this." No Tornados. No Earthquakes. No...

It's starting to feel like we're trapped. Trapped in the desert with no way out. What was once a beautiful place to live and raise our kids has become a desolate, mean spirited place. Where people boast openly about being bigots. Brag about being cheap. Proudly wear their low moral character like a badge of honor. Not my friends, of course. I choose them wisely. But it seems the "majority" here that keep skewing the polls actually exist. I thought it was the media at first. Then I blamed faulty polls. But in all honesty I think it's safe to say Arizonans, for the most part, are just pretty bad people. The majority want all the "illegals" to leave. They love that word. Makes those who's visas have expired common criminals. Great. This same majority doesn't want higher property taxes. They don't want any more taxes at all. They'd rather see our schools shut down. That'll teach those wasteful school administrators a lesson. Um yeah. A...