That explains it.

I found the following article on The Local--Swedish news written in English. I lived in Sweden for 5 1/2 years and found the attitude toward SAHM downright aggressive. I was constantly pressured to put my children in full-time daycare so they could be properly socialized.

Anyhow, I find it disturbing that managing a household is not considered work and now it is a legal opinion.

http://www.thelocal.se/23670/20091205/

That is one of the reasons I struggle with the steady trend toward socialism of our country. It really increases the pressure for women to work outside the home. There are a host of reasons that this is so. Sweden prides itself on its stance of equality for the sexes. In the 70's they changed the taxation system dramatically to push more women into the workforce. And it ceases to become a choice. I think women should work outside if they home if they want to, but never be forced by the government and social pressure.

Texting, Facebook, Twitter-- do you understand me?

I think you'll enjoy this fascinating article from the Wall Street Journal:

Why Gen-Y Johnny Can't Read Nonverbal Cues

All the more reason to keep talking at the dinner table. My teenage boys don't have texting on their phones but I do find it useful in communicating with the Young Women in our ward. Texting is a useful tool but it seems to have gotten out of balance so quickly. What can we as parents do to ensure that our children still learn interpersonal communication skills?

you know what they say about the difference between men and boys

I'm kind of surprised none of my BILs has tried this.

Yet.

"We probably don't kill a lot more animals with the camo vehicles, but we sure do feel a lot better while we're doing it," Linam says. "We feel the part a whole lot more. It's like you women are with your shoes. You have to have the right shoe for the right environment, so you can feel good about what you're doing. It's the same thing about us hunters."

Kudos to Tom

I'm not a huge fan of Hollywood, but I do have a couple of favorites. One of them let me down big time last week by saying something completely ignorant about people of my faith. (By the way, I thought the church's response was right on).

This week he apologized. I have great respect for people who are BIG enough to apologize when they are *wrong. People who do so publicly earn even more points with me.

Nicely done.

Last week, I labeled members of the Mormon church who supported California's Proposition 8 as "un-American." I believe Proposition 8 is counter to the promise of our Constitution; it is codified discrimination. But everyone has a right to vote their conscience – nothing could be more American. To say members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who contributed to Proposition 8 are "un-American" creates more division when the time calls for respectful disagreement. No one should use "un- American" lightly or in haste. I did. I should not have.
Sincerely,
Tom Hanks.

*Wrong not because of his opinion, but for not allowing people to have an opinion different than his. His apology indicates he knows how to agree to disagree. I with there were more of that in this world, particularly over this extremely divisive issue.

WHAT!?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/washington/22scotus.html

Now I'm all for free speech, really I am, but I do not understand this. Is there more to the story that I don't know? I know it's a difficult place to tread -- protection of children vs. freedom of speech, but do we allow the Man/Boy Love Association to publish child pornography because that's "Just who they are"?

Ack.

miracles, understatement and, well, the Hudson

By now everyone has heard about The Miracle on The Hudson, but of all the news stories I've seen, I liked this on best because it contains three of my favorite things: a miracle, understatement and, well, a funny comment about *the Hudson.

Sheikh Ali was waiting at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport for Matt Kane, a co-worker aboard Flight 1549, and did not know why it was late.

So Mr. Ali sent an e-mail message from his BlackBerry: “Where are you?”

Mr. Kane’s five-word response told the whole story: “I landed in the Hudson.”--James Barron of The New York Times

Note he said in the Hudson and not on it. The whole story is quite remarkable. And it's always nice to hear some good news...






*One of my favorite lines in the movie National Treasure is when Nicholas Cage's character disappears into the Hudson River and someone asks agent Dawes if she has visual contact with the suspect and she simply replies, "Sir, it's the Hudson." Another news article reported that diving crews who are searching for the plane's two engines in order to determine what happened will actually have to search by hand, not by site. The engines are believed to be buried in deep sediment that is characteristic of the murky river.

thank heavens for women's rights

Because life is better now for those poor pretty faces charged with the impossible task of hawking cars at the annual North American International Auto Show.

Apparently you've come a long way baby from the days of mermaid suits and tiger bites (OK, it was a lion, but tiger bites sound so much worse). But what does this say about people who still need just another pretty face to rev up interest in new cars people won't buy anyway?

I guess I thought (hoped) we were a little more evolved than that.