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My family is desperate for a pet, and I don’t think I am able to withstand the nagging for much longer. Now that the Obama girls will be getting their Portuguese water dog, I feel the pressure.
So far, I have refused a rodent. There is absolutely no chance I will share my home with any version of a rat. I’ve said no to the goldfish and to the parrots. I won’t house bowls of tadpoles, bags of snails… In fact, I feel cruel and mean for turning away the chance of nurturing all kinds of creatures: ants, earthworms, spiders, baby birds… I’ve told my children that these animals are better off in the wild. They will feel alienated and sad in our house.
Avoiding domestic animals has been more tricky. A dog won’t do I said. We’ve got too many children to care for. And who, I wonder, will clean up the garden, train the pooch, take it for walks, and make sure there is food for it to eat. I wonder.
A cat? No, I can not live with a cat. This is sad, because I like cats and I especially like their independent ways. But I am an allergic misery around these furry animals. So no to a lovely little kitty, and her sister.
We could try a pig, some chickens, perhaps a small pony, my son suggests. No to those too, which brings me back to a dog.
It’s going to happen. I am no longer in control of this decision.
But I can be in control of what kind of dog it will be. And here is my thinking: it has to be big, it has to be short-haired, it has to be beautiful, and there have to be two of them.
And Great Danes they will be. I want two big regal fawn coloured Great Danes.
They will be the perfect: gracious playmates for my children.
A 20-day old baby and two more people are still missing after flash floods killed two girls, aged six and 15, yesterday. Sowetons have not experienced thunderstorms like this for a long time. The latest report on Sapa reports that today:
The search continues for three people, including a 20-day-old baby, who are missing following flash floods in Soweto, Johannesburg Emergency Services. “We are still searching for the baby, a taxi driver, and a cyclist who were swept away during the floods on Thursday,” said spokesman Percy Morokane.
The six-year-old, who died, was a passenger in one of two vehicles, along with a bus, which were trapped on Ncube Drive, by flood waters.
The body of the 15-year-old girl was found in Zone 10, Meadowlands.
Morokane said the missing baby was aboard the bus that was also trapped on Ncube Drive and the cyclist was from Mfulo South.
“I’m not sure about the taxi driver. We stopped the search at 1am this morning, and resumed it again at 7:30am.” Forty people were also injured when they tried to jump off the bus in a panic. They were taken to hospital.
At least five areas in Soweto were flooded after heavy rains. They were Mofolo, Dobsonville, Dube, Orlando and Meadowlands.
A joint operational centre was established at the Jabulani fire station and was being manned by Johannesburg emergency services, police and volunteers from the 4-by-4 club.
The search-and-rescue operation was being conducted by emergency workers and two police helicopters.
“This was one of the worst thunderstorms in a few years. Sowetans have not seen something like this in a while,” Morokane said.
“We are committing all available resources to the new disaster in Soweto. We would like the full co-operation of all Sowetans in this time of dilemma.”
Today there was word in the office that South Africa may have a women’s ministry after the next election. The response to the news was interesting. There were a few sniggers, a giggle or two, and a sarcastic quip here and there. From men and women. What on earth do we need a women’s ministry for?
Inequality in the workplace, abuse, death during pregnancy and chidbirth, AIDS…
Around the world women die during childbirth and pregnancy. In fact, every minute a woman dies during chidbirth or pregnancy. Why should we care about these deaths? Firstly the lack of health care available to women is worrying. Secondly, every mother’s death, leaves her children without a primary caregiver. It leaves them without the person who will really care about their health, their education, their safety. A mother’s death, says Donna E. Shalala, has long-term implications, one of which is a continued cycle of poverty for her family and community.
I say let’s support a women’s ministry. And let’s hope that a dedicated team may alleviate the hardships mothers in South Africa endure.
Last night Barack Obama presented Stevie Wonder with America’s highest award for pop music at a ceremony at the White House – Library of Congress’ Gershwin prize. President and First Lady hosted a concert to honor Stevie Wonder, a man whose music they said brought them together. “Love was in the air at the White House”, said the pool reporters there.
Here are some edited notes from the pool report:
“Michelle opened the event, and explained that she grew up listening to Stevie Wonder’s music with her grandfather. Years later, she said she “discovered what Stevie meant when he sang about love. Barack and I chose the song, ‘You and I’ as our wedding song.” A chorus of “awws” from the crowd.
Obama, when presenting the award, called Stevie Wonder’s music “the soundtrack of my youth,” saying he found in it “peace and inspiration, especially in difficult times.” He then mirrored his wife’s comments, saying: “I think it’s fair to say that had I not been a Stevie Wonder fan, Michelle might not have dated me. We might not have married. The fact that we agreed on Stevie was part of the essence of our courtship.” Read More…
Michelle Obama in an interview with People Magazine says that Malia and Sasha’s dog will arrive in April, after a short family holiday. They are most probably getting a Portuguese Water dog, although a Labradoodle is still on the cards.
Here’s a Portuguese Water dog:
And here are some labradoodles:
She also spoke of family life in the White House. The New York Post reports:
The Obama family is really enjoying life in the White House.
In an interview with People magazine, First Lady Michelle Obama said the president and their two kids have dinner together “every night,” that her marriage is “not perfect” and that they’re close to buying a family dog.
Obama said she and the president wake up early — about 5:30 a.m. — and exercise in the White House gym.
She said their daughters, Malia, 10 and Sasha, 7, join them for a “mean waffles and grits” breakfast prepared for them by White House chefs.
Michelle Obama said having dinner together each night is also a very important part of the day.
“We have dinner as a family together every night, and Barack, when he’s not traveling, tucks the girls in,” she told the magazine, which hits newsstands on Friday. “We haven’t had that time together for [in years], so that explains a lot why we all feel so good in this space.”
While she and the commander-in-chief respect one other, she told the People that their marriage is “strong” but “not perfect.”
“I don’t want anybody to think it’s that easy,” she said. “It works because we really work at it.”
Obama also said the girls have the same chores in the White House as they did in their Chicago home.
“People [at the White House] want to make your life easy, and when you have small kids — I’ve explained this to the staff — they don’t need their lives to be easy,” she said.
In this Reuters photograph a war-orphaned child is pictured sitting in a cardboard box at the Kizito orphanage in Bunia in northeastern Congo February 24, 2009. Ethnic violence has simmered for years in northeastern Congo, part of broader civil and regional conflict currently uprooting hundreds of thousands of Congolese fleeing massacres and reprisal killings by various armed groups roaming the country’s vast and lawless wilds.
Want to hear the young man’s voice? You don’t have his number?
The New York Times had an over-the-shoulder shot of Obama’s speech last night. Printed on the speech was Favreau’s cell number. Gawker called the number, just to hear his voice.
Cute.
Ok this is an awful idea. Desperate too. (She might not get to take her babies home until she finds a home.) But it’s just a little entertaining for us.
Especially amusing is this bit of writing on Slate which is hilarious:
“TMZ reports the San Fernando Valley-based adult production company Vivid Entertainment has offered Nadya Suleman $1 million to star in an adult movie. Taken at face value, this story is all kinds of wrong. How the story of a freak-mother has twisted itself into a tale of a would-be MILF? OctoMILF? is beyond the scope of my limited brain capacity. Whatever those parties involved or not involved have in mind, I know I do not want to see it. What the story does testify to truly is that the adult movie industry is suffering mightily during this recession if these are the lengths it has to go to get attention these days. Once upon a time, XXX was outre. After a while, it went mainstream. Now, I guess it’s just passe. For some reason, the conflation of OctoMom and pornography brings to my mind the ancient Japanese tradition of tentacle erotica and The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, in which a woman finds herself in the erotic embrace of an octopus. I suppose these United States really have been pornified, when starring in an adult movie is the punchline to the new American Dream.
AP reported today that Sarah Palin will pay back the Alaskan state nearly $7,000 for costs linked with nine trips taken by her children, her attorney said Tuesday. Last year it was reported that Palin did not pay taxes on the more than $60,000 of travel reimbursements that she and her family members billed the state during her 18 months as governor.
Palin must reimburse the state within 120 days, according to a settlement agreement filed by a special investigator hired by the Alaska Personnel Board to investigate an ethics complaint filed against her.
The exact amount will be determined by the Alaska Department of Administration, said Palin’s attorney, Thomas Van Flein. He estimated the amount would be 6,800 dollars.
There is no state law prohibiting the governor’s family from traveling with her and the personnel board found no wrongdoing on the part of the governor. But the investigator, Timothy Petumenos, interpreted the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act to require that the state only pay if the first family serves an important state interest.
Petumenos said «some of the travel raised by the Complaint does not meet this standard,” according to the agreement.
Van Flein said 72 travel authorizations were studied, with nine found to be of questionable state interest.
Those include airfare and one meal for her daughter Bristol Palin, who accompanied the governor to New York for Newsweek’s Third Annual Women and Leadership Conference in October 2007.
Morgan Tsvingarai, for the first time since his appointment as prime minister, today laid down the law saying appointments of top civil servants made by President Robert Mugabe without his consent were “null and void”. He also said farm invasions must stop immediately, and political detainees should be freed. Here is his full statement:
Members of the Diplomatic Corps and the Press, Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Zimbabweans;
Today, I want to take this opportunity to highlight developments within the Transitional Government a mere two weeks after my inauguration as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
Firstly, I would like to commend the Ministers for the work they have been doing in the very short time that they have been in office.
They have managed to begin to address some of the many issues facing the country and I am encouraged by the open and constructive debates within Cabinet and the Council of Ministers.
In particular, I would like to recognise the efforts of the Ministries of Health, Education and Finance. The latter has mobilised funds that have enabled this government to pay the first round of allowances to the civil service, particularly the army, police and teachers.
Not only did this allow these valuable members of our community to put food on their tables and travel to work, but has also served as a vital stimulus to our ailing economy. Those who have not yet received their allowance will do so in the near future.
In addition I have kept the SADC Chairman, President Motlanthe, appraised of developments and today our ministers are meeting with SADC ministers concerning the Zimbabwe recovery programme.
However, it is also my responsibility to bring to your attention a number of outstanding issues that continue to act as an impediment to our progress as a Government and our ability to truly resolve the issues facing our country. Read More…