This and That

Remarkable article in today’s NYTimes.com on depression in adoptive mothers, a widespread phenomenon (77% reported such feelings in a survey): http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/health/25adop.html
The only thing wrong with this article is that it didn’t even acknowledge the potential (this area is largely unstudied) impact on adoptees of being around a depressed mother for up to a year of their early childhood.
As it says, society puts adoptive parents on a pedestal. Look at the number of liberal politicians (Hillary Clinton and Mario Cuomo, for example) who blather on about adoption as a noble solution to family problems. Anything that could potentially crack the pedestal by telling even the partial truth is radical, so more power to the researchers.

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Weekend

Seems like everyone at the office was looking forward to the end of the work week, including me.
Maybe it’s because Thursday turned out to be a work at home day, due to a power outage caused by a semi that had knocked down the power lines the night before. It was a beautiful day, and a gift to be able to spend it outside, or at least in a place where you could open the windows.

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Gardener’s Diary

Daffs have been appearing around town for at least a week, and the are finally showing up in my yard as well, along with the little deep blue flowers that are my favorites.
The crocuses are pretty much gone, done in by some cold nights, I suspect, and what we hope is the last snow, a brief flurry earlier this week.

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Word of the Day

As I get older and my brain ambles in funny ways, I’ve become intrigued by the connections between different meanings of the same word.
Take “court”, for instance. It can mean a courtyard, a place to play tennis, or more ominously, the judiciary.

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The Majority Rules – So What?

According to the AP-Ipsos poll conducted this week, Bush’s “popularity” rating is now at 36%, with only 35% “approving” of his handling of Iraq.
The Republican-controlled Congress has an approval rating of 30%. Democrats are favored over Republicans by a huge margin – 16%.
69% of those polled believe the country is headed in the wrong direction.

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