Tag Archives: Washington State

Monday Morning Open Thread

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What’s up?

I couldn’t stop thinking about Whitney Houston’s death this weekend. As I mentioned yesterday, I loved her songs since I was a kid. Here is a couple new developments surrounding her death, according to the New York Daily News: it appears that she drowned in her bathtub in a drug-induced haze. Also, her daughter Bobbi Christina was rushed to the hospital after learning of her mother’s death. What a sad story all around.  

In non-Whitney news: Mitt Romney won the Maine Republican caucuses, and once again, failed to garner even half of the votes, according to the Washington Post.

Washington state legalized gay marriage. I was especially moved by this Republican legislator’s testimony.

As I have mentioned here before, one of my concerns of running outdoors by the freeway is inhaling too much air pollution. In a timely article, Moms Clean Air Force had a guest post with advice on how to avoid high levels of air pollution while running outside.

In “water is wet” news: here is yet another article on how spanking increases aggression in children.

What else is in the news? What’s up with you?

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread

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What’s up?

As of last night, 11 p.m. local time/8 p.m. Cali time, the winner of last night’s GOP primary in New Hampshire was Mitt Romney (38%), followed by Ron Paul (23%) and Jon Huntsman (17%). I expect a lot of dropouts in the next few days. Here are the polls and details at our brother site Daily Kos.

Speaking of politics, when will we catch up to Jamaica? Portia Simpson Miller, Jamaica’s first female prime minister, was just sworn in for her second term. Check out her bad-ass response to homophobia on the island.

In related news, I teared up reading this personal account by a legislator and son of a gay man who has endorsed a gay marriage bill in Washington state.

MSN Health ran a fascinating study on how people who live 110 years or longer have as many disease-associated genes as people in the general population, but they may also have protective genes that help them live longer.

Liz Cerezo over at the Thoughts of a Mommy blog wrote a thoughtful and honest account about parenting a teenage boy.

The Boston Globe ran a wonderful essay about raising teenagers with autism.

BlogHer published another provocative piece, this one proposed an expiration date on marriage to prevent snarling the courts with divorce cases. She suggested having a mechanism where married couples can choose to renew their marital vows — er contract — online. What do you think?

Mother Jones magazine included a round-up of tidbits from a biography about the Obamas. I couldn’t put it down!

Finally, here is a little humor on this lovely hump day courtesy of the Huffington Post. Like this author and illustrator, I hardly drank any caffeinated or alcoholic drinks prior to becoming a mother. Now? There are days I just can’t get by without them! :)

Thanks for the tip, Hilary!

What else is in the news? What’s up with you?

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Caucus Eve, Sitting on the Fence

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Are there any Barack Obama supporters online tonight who’d like to pitch their candidate?  I’ve got about 16 hours to make up mind, or at least to walk into the caucus with some sort of plan.

Before today, I was staunchly in the Obama camp.  I had been an Edwards supporter, but when he went the way of the Dodo I thought Barack Obama had the best chance of working for the issues that are most important to me:  health care, the economy, and of course the war.  I’m looking for a candidate who will stand up to large corporations and fight for policies that benefit the people of the nation.


I’m hearing lots of great-sounding stuff from Obama, but I do feel he’s a little light on the details and promises.

Today, I saw Hillary Clinton speak at the University of Puget Sound and she laid it right out on the line:  I promise you universal health care.  I promise to put an end to pre-existing condition discrimination, I promise student loan forgiveness for those who are willing to take on public service jobs, I promise to index pell grant increases to tuition increases, and so on.  It was like she read right down a list of issues most important to me, in the here and now.  So I am still basking in the light of her star, and I’m looking for some balance from the Obama camp.

I’m listening to his Seattle speech right now, and still not hearing details.

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