Samantha Pierce

Mom abducted, daughter missing My first thoughts upon hearing this story yesterday were, what do two black men (a lot of the news stories I've read gloss over that little tidbit) want with a white woman and her little girl? My second thoughts were, who is so inept as to not take the cell phones from their kidnap victims? Turns out sister girl who called 911 to say that she and her daughter had been kidnapped and stuffed into the trunk of a car by two black men was telling stories to cover up a run for Disney World with the 9 year. Apparently the police were appropriately suspicious from the get go. Ed Morrissey of Hot Air asks, Can we put an end to “white women in peril” journalism now?

Today I am thankful for/that: Ibuprofen. It does wonders for fevers. Another mom who took Sophia to school for me yesterday then took her home for a play date and dinner. The kids went to bed without too much fuss last night. All the other stuff I'm thankful for but can't seem to remember at the moment. Feverish headaches mess with your memory. What are you thankful for?

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Obama's green guru calls for white roofs : President Obama's energy adviser has suggested all the world's roofs should be painted white as part of efforts to slow global warming. I'm hoping that this was a throw away idea in a brainstorming session 'cause if he was serious... Just what percentage of the planet is covered by roofs, roads, and sidewalks? Perhaps my sense of proportion is a bit off but I always thought not much. How much of that is already shaded by trees? One of the nice things about dark road surfaces and roof tops in the higher latitudes is that they get warmed up and thawed out faster in the winter. How are we supposed to compensate for that lost heat during the winter?

I was going to do an extensive write up about several stories on NPR this about individuals with learning disabilities and/or mental illnesses and the beating (figurative and literal) they often take at the hands of authority figures who are supposed to help and protect them (teachers, law enforcement officers, etc.). However, reading the comments on the first story in the list below really soured my stomach on the topic. I'd like to say that I'm surprised to see so much anger and hostility displayed towards individuals with learning disabilities and/or mental illness and their families but I'm not. Here's a thought to chew on for anyone who might be disgruntled that students with learning disabilities, mental illnesses, or behaviour problems may be in classrooms with "normal" students. This isn't a case of coddling a few problem students at the expense of others. Teaching students to manage "problem" behaviours is equipping them to learn and ful...

Today I'm thankful for/that: Sophia willingly dragging my bag around the doctor's office last week when my back hurt too much for me to carry anything. A fast recovery from last week's back muscle spasm. I occasionally have to say things like, I can't bend that way right now, but for the most part I'm back carrying my usual load. I was already home and in the driveway when I locked the keys in the car this week. I had a functioning cell phone to call hubby with when I locked the keys in the car. Hubby was only 10 minutes from home when I called him after locking my keys in the car. I had a baggy of Kix cereal to keep the girls happy and yarn and my crochet hooks to occupy me while I waited for hubby to get home and get my keys out of the car. It's been a lot easier to keep the living room clean since I banished a bunch of the kids' toys from the house. I'll be repeating the process with kid and grown up stuff in every room of the house multiple times. Gr...

At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phillipians 2:10, 11 A stunningly beautiful collision of cultures. 2000 year old religion, rooted in Judaism, practiced by Asians, in a style developed by the descendants of Africans and Europeans in the North American continent. Fascinating on so many levels.

Exodus 20:16 (English Standard Version) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Some weeks ago I read some excerpts from the blog of someone who identified as a Christian and was a leader in their church. This person indulged in the kind of conspiracy fear mongering that is so prevalent on the internet. It struck me that making baseless clams that the entirety of the medical profession (except for a few brave souls who agree with you), the government (except for a few brave souls who agree with you), and research scientists (again except for the few who agree with you) are in a global conspiracy to harm people is a clear violation of the commandment that believers not bear false witness against others. This kind of behaviour , conspiracy fear mongering, seriously damages our Christian witness. Christians really ought to know and behave better.

Back after an unplanned break. So... Nancy Pelosi taking pot shots at the CIA? Really? I know that they regularly take one for the team but the CIA knows how to fight dirty (if they don't we're in bigger trouble than I thought). My money is on the CIA in this fight. Drought, Politics Trouble Farmers In California . Why is it that when there is a dispute over water farmers (the ones responsible for growing the food you stuff your face with every day) get shafted? Why turn around and complain about how much food costs if you're going to do stuff that ruins crops or keeps farmers from planting enough to meet your demands? Trying to portray as "greedy" farmers who want enough water to keep their crops alive long enough to harvest them suggests a complete disconnect from what the lives of farmers are actually like. Why aren't the people who live in an arid climate but want to act like they live in a rain forest not the greedy ones? In the long run cheap food is mo...

I'm still steaming over the swine flu swindle of 2009. And I'm not talking about those hucksters selling fake remedies and preventatives to panicked consumers. A crash effort to analyze the genes of the swine flu virus has revealed that it first emerged in humans last year — most likely last fall. "The consistent range we're getting out is the second half of last year — between June and December," says Oliver Pybus of Oxford University. "The best estimate is the middle of that range, kind of September." That means the newly recognized virus has been hiding in plain sight for the past eight months or so. Researchers say it probably had been circulating in Mexico and causing disease there, but its presence was masked by cases of regular flu and the absence of lab tests to identify the newcomer. Seeing as how no one noticed a statistically significant rise in flu deaths last flu season I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this "new" viru...

Today I am thankful for: My personal tech guru. I'd be so lost with out him. Friends. My family doctor. We shared stories of our back muscle spasm episodes in the office this afternoon. The happy meds that will hopefully take effect soon. A good meal shred with friends. Sunshine and rain. What are you thankful for?

Today I am thnkful for/that: Those who think of everything that could possibly go wrong...and then think of preventative solutions (you know who you are). That second part there is the key to making one a great asset rather than a kill joy. Bird song. I don't know if it's me or the birds but they sound happier and louder than they have in years. Frolicking at the park with the kids. Spring blooms. Friends. All those who lend a helping hand to their fellow man, not for gain, not for fame, not so they can get up on a soap box and admonish others, but because it is the right thing to do. What are you thankful for?

I'm a day late with this since the swine flu hysteria came to my neighbourhood. Honestly 36,000 people die of the regular seasonal flu in the US every year and people are freaking out about a flu that has thus far killed less than 100 world wide. Here's what the CDC says about seasonal flu . Every year in the United States, on average: 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu; more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu-related complications; and about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes. I'm wondering if every running nose will get school closed down this fall when the regular flu season starts again. There have been 279 confirmed US cases of swine flu so far and 1 death, of a kid who came from Mexico to get medical treatment. World wide there have been 1276 confirmed cases so far. Is this worth China rounding up every Mexican it could find and essentially holding then hostage? No. Is it worth keeping thousands of kids out of school? No. I know people ...

Chicken little has come home to roost. The boys school will be closed all week thanks to fear of the swine flu. The closure could continue into a second week. The boys are just going to love this. Not. They really like school and this change of routine is going to really throw them for a loop. Apparently a student who was sick had some connection to the St Francis Prep school in Queens that seems to be the source of most cases in New York state.

As I failed to fall asleep in the wee hours this morning I heard the news on NPR that Justice David Souter will be retiring from the Supreme Court. I would have liked for President Obama to have a little more experience under his belt before he had to make a decision like this. I think what is about to go down will make the Roberts and Alito confirmation processes look like slumber parties. Obama doesn't have a good track record so far when it comes to choosing individuals to serve in public office.