Looking More Carefully At the Mystery Meat

After an eventful visit by Joan and Herb that ended with their return to Wisconsin yesterday, life is returning a bit more to normal here for the three of us. In tourist-mode I took Grandma and Grandpa through what most consider notable City highlights, ventured to both the East Bay and into Marin, and made nightly dinners that filled us all to bursting. Admittedly, I think we threw off Maya's newish normalcy and it may take us a few days to return to whatever that may indeed become. She's seemingly given up on real naps, which we hope she soon decides are once again worthwhile. But then last night she slept for over 6 hours straight before grunting her way out of that deep slumber. In other words, we'll need to balance things out a bit starting with some long walks in the Park and less time dashing around the City. So with Maya's sleeping fitfully in the bouncy chair next to the computer desk, I'll try to look a bit more deeply into the news I failed to comment upon this past week.

This Week's ANID Remedy List

• Prince Charles and Camilla made it official. Camilla earned high marks from most critics for her couture, especially the funky hats. The nest of twigs was my favorite. But the Davey Crockett raccoon cap was a stunner.
• Amid all the Pope trivialities, Wolf Blitzer subtly implied that liberals are bad Catholics, Bush said the Pope's death was "one of the highlights of his Preziduncy" even after the St. Peter's crowds booed his broadcasted image, and Jimmy Carter (the only U.S. President to formally host any Pope at the White House) may have gotten snubbed by the Bushies. To get away from all the wall-to-wall PopeTV, I'd have opted for a 24-hour-long wait in the viewing line. If I could have found long-haul diapers in my size, that is.
• Jeff/JD Gannon/Guckert reappeared and amazingly found a new way to sully the reputations of honest journalists everywhere (he defended Armstrong Williams by saying that his reporting had to be paid for since it was the only example of truthful reporting on "No Child Left Behind"). Loved the "my printer ran out of ink" line he used while showing a supposedly Red States/Blue States breakdown that came out all green - he said that "(those) are the people interested in the questions I ask." So true, GG.
• The Mighty New Brew Crew opened the season with a sweep of the Pirates and a thrilling 12-inning game against the Cubbies. They've since lost once, but at 3-1 this is the snapshot of the season I'll carry with me hereafter to imagine what might have been - as of today we're in the lead in the Wildcard Race!
• In this week's legal folder, the woman suing a Bay Area Wendy's for finding (watch your lunch, people) a finger in a bowl of chili has been revealed to have sued another restaurant for the same offense. Some might say that she's a scam artist. I, however, fear that she may be the only one of us actually bothering to check.
• Serial Asshole Eric Rudolph was spared the death penalty in a plea bargin. Don't get me wrong - I'm totally against the death penalty given the possibility of executing even one innocent person, no matter how depraved. But given the nature of Rudolph's targets (abortion clinics, gay bars, hedonistic outdoor dancefests at the Olympics) this appears to be yet another example of how the "culture of life" advocates have completely lost their friggin' minds.
• Dubya's desperate effort to convince America that the New Deal is Old and Busted is being funded by what may be an illegal use of taxpayer funds. $2.2M estimated thus far, with an investigation by the GAO in the future becoming more of a possibility. But if we just put that money into a mutual fund and sat on it for 37 years...
• And in the latest hapless effort to combat America's unchecked eating habits, PBS has announced that Sesame Street's Cookie Monster will cut back this season while even introducing a new song titled "A Cookie is a Sometimes Food." No word on whether Big Bird will finally admit to past steroids use.