"[T]he first thing seen is a freshly detached human head being bounced down the long steps of a towering pyramid toward a frenzied crowd below. Only then does it dawn on the shackled prisoners what's in store for them. At the summit preside dissolute royals as well as a high priest who, time and again, plunges a knife into a man's belly and, while the victim is still alive, tears out his still-beating heart as an offering to placate the gods to end the drought." [Variety]

In four years as governor, Richards championed what she called the "New Texas," appointing more women and more minorities to state posts than any of her predecessors.

She appointed the first black University of Texas regent; the first crime victim to join the state Criminal Justice Board; the first disabled person to serve on the human services board; and the first teacher to lead the State Board of Education. Under Richards, the fabled Texas Rangers pinned stars on their first black and female officers.

. . .

Asked once what she might have done differently had she known she was going to be a one-term governor, Richards grinned.

"Oh, I would probably have raised more hell."

The documented truths of the last fifteen years are replaced by bald-faced lies; the talking points of the current regime parroted; the whole sorry story blurred, by spin, to make the party out of office seem vacillating and impotent, and the party in office, seem like the only option.

How dare you, Mr. President, after taking cynical advantage of the unanimity and love, and transmuting it into fraudulent war and needless death, after monstrously transforming it into fear and suspicion and turning that fear into the campaign slogan of three elections? How dare you -- or those around you -- ever "spin" 9/11?

Just as the terrorists have succeeded -- are still succeeding -- as long as there is no memorial and no construction here at Ground Zero.

So, too, have they succeeded, and are still succeeding as long as this government uses 9/11 as a wedge to pit Americans against Americans.

The weirdest thing happened. I have always had straight hair with lots of body and only a moderate wave. Ever since I had Ellie, boing! My hair has turned curly! I have no idea what to do with curly hair.

I gave it a little chop this morning, and I'm planning to give it a little reddish black dye soon, too.

That's the 4yo with his new juicer. BIG. HIT. I swear, we couldn't have gotten him a better gift.

We made carrot and apple juice. Ya just throw everything in there, peels and seeds and all. It made the tastiest damn juice! I might never eat again. That juice rocked.

Well, ok, I'll eat. The juicer came with a recipe book for using the leftover pulp. I baked carrot-apple muffins (topped with peach cream cheese) to take up to the preschool. In T-Minus 19 minutes, we will see if the children eat them.

Happy birthday, my littlest man! xoxoxoxo

Scientists have discovered that drinking milk and eating cheese stimulates a protein than prompts the release of eggs and makes women five times more likely to give birth to twins ... They found that the twinning rate in vegans is one fifth of that in vegetarians and meat-eaters ... Other scientists say vegan women may bear fewer twins because they are less well nourished. Dr Paul Haggarty of the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen says there may be other nutrients that vegan women lack.

The U.S. infant mortality rate is higher than those of most other industrialized nations -- it's three times that of Japan and 2.5 times those of Norway, Finland and Iceland, according to a report released last week by Save the Children, an advocacy group.

New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves -- and to be treated by the health care system -- as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon ... Among other things, this means all women between first menstrual period and menopause should take folic acid supplements, refrain from smoking, maintain a healthy weight and keep chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes under control.

Pretty much every aspect of women's reproductive work is punished economically in the American workplace. And that affects all two-earner, nuclear households -- the ideal to which we're all supposed to aspire (the wage gap is estimated to cost working families $200 billion dollars per year).

But it doesn't need to be that way. We're so far behind the rest of the world in commonsense, pro-women and pro-family policies that we don't need to reinvent the wheel to figure out what works.

In a globally competitive environment, we need expanded parental leave, universal pre- and after-school programs, more flexible work hours and time off to take care of sick kids and elderly parents.