Taking it a little too far.

I enjoyed the show and most of the movies. I visited the "experience" in Vegas. I even went to a convention - once. But, wow. Holy cow.

ONE thing to do today

The ONE campaign put together a petition asking Congress and the President to keep the promises America made a year ago. I think you should sign it.

Click here or paste the following URL in your browser:

http://action.one.org/live8.jsp

Thanks.

Mercy, Mercy, Me

So I am sitting here today listening to Kool 94.5 and they played Marvin Gaye - I can't believe I never heard the words to this song before outside the chorus. Ok, so all I can say is I was not born when it came out, in my defense. In case anyone else was in the same boat as me....

Marvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me (the Ecology) Lyrics
Ah, mercy, mercy me,Ah, things ain't what they used to
be, no, no.Where did all the blue skies go?Poison is
the wind that blows from the north and south andeast.Mercy, mercy me,Ah, things ain't what they used to
be, no, no.Oil wasted on the ocean and uponour seas
fish full of mercury,Oh, mercy, mercy me.Ah,
things ain't what they used to be, no, no, no.Radiation underground and in the sky;animals and birds
who live near by are dying.Oh, mercy, mercy me.Ah, things ain't what they used to be.What about
this over crowded land?How much more abuse from man can
she stand?

On Being both a Mom and an Environmentalist

This was a fun read.

Goodbye to Oak Creek Canyon?

The best place in the state, I think, is in serious trouble today. Yay, fire crews, boo, idiots who won't leave their damn cabins. Full coverage from the Arizona Republic here.

And just a word on how this is just another face of global warming (see the movie!)...Arizona is in a multi-year drought. Now, this could be a coincidence, but at some point, you have to see that there are a lot of things going on that might happen once a millenia, that are happening, like, every year. Anyway, drought = sick trees. Sick trees = easy pickings for bark beetles. Bark beetles = lots of standing dead and dying trees. Lots of dead and dying trees = lighting fluid + kindling. This is what global warming looks like, guys.

And on a more fun note

A new picture, from Memorial Day (hey, I wanted to go camping, but someone had to see the Indy 500).

An Inconvenient Truth

We saw the preview of An Inconvenient Truth here in Phoenix. Everyone needs to see this movie. Please please please go to climatecrisis.net and spread the word!

An Actual Conspiracy - This is HUGE

So, something that you should know about me is that I am not one to buy easily into conspiracy theories. Oswald acted alone. I downloaded "Loose Change" over the weekend, haven't watched it yet, but I am 100% positive that it's mostly junk. So you might see how I am utterly dismayed at how completely true this piece by RFK, Jr. in this month's Rolling Stone, about how Bush stole Ohio among other places, proves to be. It's all things that were sometimes covered but never really investigated. Yet another way that the "liberal press" has FAILED our democracy.

As another case goes before Bush's stacked court, I feel like someone just stole my bicycle. This blows.

Today's Let-Them-Eat-Cake Moment...

Bush actually said that 9/11/01 ended in a humorous moment for him. He IS Marie Antoinette. It's so simple!

The New Five A Day

This is handy - Salon has posted the 5 things we all should be doing NOW to combat global warming.

Absolute Proof that DeLay Supporters are Morons

And this is after the White House Correspondents' Dinner. DeLay supporters used a Colbert Report piece (satire? maybe?) in their defense campaign e-mails. Stupid and evil is a dangerous combo.

The I Spy Work is Magic

I have hardly been a Montessori enthusiast, however, in what's probably her last week in Montessori school ever, my baby is reading! Miss Veronica taught her some basic phonics, and the "work" goes like this: There is a set of tiny objects, like a cup, a cat, a fan, and then the nouns are written on separate slips of paper. She matched up every one of them. Then they are supposed to take the words and copy them out, she's not so good at that yet, but so what? I'm so proud. She also can pick out the even numbers from 1-10 and count out dots to match each of the numerals, which is cool.

Her new school has ballet, gymnastics, piano, and gardening in the curriculum (the other school is closing next week, Ms. Lillian is retiring). It sounds right up Amelie's alley. And they look so cute in the little tutus! I don't know what the boys there wear, they are still roughly half the classes. Updates soon.

Baby Beluga in the Deep Blue Sea...

I think the song is Raffi or something horrible like that but Baby Beluga was one of Amelie's first songs. Help them.

Did you know that Cook Inlet beluga whales could go extinct in our lifetime? But they do have hope for survival. I just helped these magnificent creatures by urging that they be listed on the Endangered Species Act, and I hope you will, too.

It's easy to get involved Just take action online at the website below:

http://action.defenders.org/savebelugas

Moms unite!

I read this great article on Salon and then I joined, you should too.

Subject: Join me in becoming a MomsRising member
I hope you'll join me and others in one of the most exciting grassroots movements on the Internet today: MomsRising.

http://www.momsrising.org/keepmeposted

MomsRising gives people a voice in the motherhood and family issues that are shaping our lives. This is particularly important because frankly American mothers and families are in trouble. A full quarter of families with children under six live in poverty, at least 9 million children don't have any health care, and far too many parents can't afford to stay home with sick children.

MomsRising is working to promote common sense family-friendly policies. You can sign online petitions and pledges that will be shared with political, community, and business leaders, as well as receive email alerts on timely issues, and read The Motherhood Manifesto book all for free.

MomsRising is building a vibrant online community and has great personal stories posted, as well as hot issues and timely actions for change. There are also current event discussion topics to spark group or personal conversations--and information about how start small groups, as well as how to get more involved working toward solutions.

By working together we can ignite a major movement that brings common sense, necessary change to the lives of mothers and families.

I hope you'll join us today at:

http://www.momsrising.org/keepmeposted

Ow.

Fossil Springs Trail. Strawberry. Hard. And that would have been bad enough, but it wasn't just me, it was 8 frustrated 10 to 13-year-old kids, and none of us had climbed a mountain lately in 85-degree weather. I hope they will forgive, or at least forget that. I was thinking of the Flume trail, which is easier, and TOTALLY FLAT, but below the decommissioned dam and therefore temporarily closed. Fossil Springs was beautiful but until the other trail re-opens I will not be back. Yikes!

BEST_SKETCH_EVER!!

Al Gore on SNL. Hell, yes!!

Thanks to Matt for the tip! :)

It's Endangered Species Day!

Did you know that congressional Republicans are, at this very moment, trying to get rid of that pesky Endangered Species Act? It's true. Please do something today for endangered species, because they may not have a tomorrow. Here's your link. Go.

Arizona Conservation Organizations Celebrate success in endangered species protection and recovery

(Phoenix, AZ) The U.S. Senate has unanimously proclaimed May 11 as “Endangered Species Day,” providing for the first-ever national celebration of America’s commitment to protecting and recovering our nation’s endangered species.

Tomorrow, America will celebrate endangered species success stories, including the protection and recovery of the American bald eagle, peregrine falcon, gray wolf, grizzly bear, humpback whale and many of our nation’s wildlife, fish and plants.

In Arizona, we celebrate the return of some important species including the Mexican gray wolf, the black-footed ferret, the California condor, and the elusive jaguar. While these animals are not recovered, they are here and in our state due primarily to the Endangered Species Act and the support of the American people.

We also celebrate Pima County’s Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, a plan to protect habitat for 55 vulnerable species including threatened and endangered species like the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl, Chiracahua leopard frog, Huachuca water umbel, and Gila chub. This plan has gained national attention and recognition and could set a standard for future planning efforts.

The Endangered Species resolution in Congress encourages, “The people of the United States to become educated about, and aware of, the threats to species, success stories in species recovery, and the opportunity to promote species conservation worldwide.”

The resolution was introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and was co-sponsored by Senators Biden (D-DE), Byrd (D-WV) Cantwell (D-WA), Chafee (R-RI), Clinton (D-NY), Crapo (R-ID), Dodd (D-CT), Feingold (D-WI), Levin (D-MI), Lieberman (D-CT), Reed (D-RI), Snowe (R-ME) and Collins (R-ME).

While there is much to celebrate, there is also still much to be done to protect the many species that are threatened and endangered in this state, country and throughout the world. Here in Arizona, we must act aggressively to protect many species, including: our imperiled native fishes — out of the 36 fish native to Arizona, one is officially extinct, two are extirpated, and 18 are listed as threatened or endangered; the 17 native plants that are threatened or endangered — Arizona cliff-rose and Arizona hedgehog cactus, among others; endangered birds like Arizona’s desert-nesting bald eagles and the Yuma clapper rail; and the nearly extinct Sonoran pronghorn, one of 39 endangered mammal, reptile and bird species on the list of endangered species in Arizona. The Mexican gray wolf has been brought back to the wild in Arizona, but is still imperiled and continues to need strong advocates for its protection and recovery.

Endangered Species Day provides an opportunity for schools, libraries, museums, zoos, botanical gardens, agencies, businesses, and community groups to educate the public about the importance of protecting endangered species and highlight everyday actions that individuals and groups can take to help protect our nation’s endangered species.

Celebrate Endangered Species Day on May 11th, 2006.

-Learn about endangered species in your area.
-Provide habitat for wildlife in your backyard.
-Find out what the Phoenix Zoo is doing to conserve endangered species both locally and around the world.
-Plan a field trip to a local park or endangered species habitat in your town.
-Participate in an endangered species habitat protection or restoration project.
-Conserve water at home so that the waters of our majestic desert rivers, like the San Pedro and the Verde, continue to flow and provide important habitat for threatened and endangered species.
-Sign the Endangered Species Act Legacy Pledge at: www.stopextinction.org/legacypledge


For more information, visit the Endangered Species Day website at: www.stopextinction.org/endangeredspeciesday

Defenders of Wildlife has developed a national website indexed by state that features local “Heroes” of state Endangered Species success stories. To learn about everyday folks doing heroic things for Arizona’s species go to: http://www.saveesa.org/learnmore/states.html

The Center for Biological Diversity has developed a website which features 100 Endangered Species Act success stories nationwide broken down by region and state. Go to www.esasuccess.org to learn more about the following species, which currently or historically existed in Arizona:

American peregrine falcon
Apache trout
Arctic peregrine falcon
Bald eagle (Continental U.S. DPS)
Black-footed ferret
California brown pelican
California condor
Gila trout
Gray wolf (Southwest DPS)
Grizzly bear (Continental U.S. DPS)

Also, see the following websites for more information on endangered species.

www.sierraclub.org/esa
http://www.sonorandesert.org/
http://www.phoenixzoo.org/
http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/azibaprogram/index.htm
www.azwild.org
http://www.maricopaaudubon.org

I'm Proud to be a Qwest Customer

Hey, they may be raising my rates to add the BYU channel (ewww) but at least Qwest didn't rat me out to the NSA. So, it was OK for some of you when they wiretapped international calls, whose, they wouldn't say. What will it take for you to say that they have gone too far? Door to door searches? Just wondering.

More Veronica, Please!

Last night was the last episode of Veronica Mars on UPN - will the amalgamated WB/UPN pick it up? Maybe if enough people rent the DVDs. Veronica Mars is awesome. Watch it. Here is where they filmed (neato).

Our Tiki Themed Party

Jamie has posted Ruben's photos of our sixth (and last?) annual birthday party. It was fun, Jamie's house looked really cool, as usual, but the theming was no small feat, may I say!