Cindy's Blog

My home on the web since 1995

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  • Where to Find Happiness

    The world of those who are happy is different from the world of those who are not.
    –Ludwig Wittgenstein

    Happiest Countries

    1. Denmark
    2. Puerto Rico
    3. Colombia
    4. Iceland
    5. North Ireland
    6. Ireland
    7. Switzerland
    8. Netherlands
    9. Canada
    10. Austria
    11. El Salvador
    12. Malta
    13. Luxemburg
    14. Sweden
    15. New Zeland
    16. U.S.A.
    17. Guatemala
    18. Mexico
    19. Norway
    20. Belgium
    21. Britain
    22. Australia
    23. Venezuela
    24. Trinidad
    25. Finland
    26. Saudi Arabia
    27. Thailand
    28. Cyprus
    29. Nigeria
    30. Brazil
    31. Singapore
    32. Argentina
    33. Andorra
    34. Malaysia
    35. West Germany
    36. Vietnam
    37. France
    38. Philippines
    39. Uruguay
    40. Indonesia
    41. Chile
    42. Dominican Republic
    43. Japan
    44. Spain
    45. Israel
    46. Italy
    47. Portugal
    48. Taiwan
    49. East Germany
    50. Slovenia
    51. Ghana
    52. Poland
    53. Czech Republic
    54. China
    55. Mali
    56. Kyrgyzstan
    57. Jordan
    58. Greece
    59. South Africa
    60. Turkey
    61. Peru
    62. South Korea
    63. Hong Kong
    64. Iran
    65. Bangladesh
    66. Bosnia
    67. Croatia
    68. Morocco
    69. India
    70. Uganda
    71. Zambia
    72. Algeria
    73. Burkina Faso
    74. Egypt
    75. Slovakia
    76. Hungary
    77. Montenegro
    78. Tanzania
    79. Azerbaijan
    80. Macedonia
    81. Rwanda
    82. Pakistan
    83. Ethiopia
    84. Estonia
    85. Servian Bosnia
    86. Lithuania
    87. Latvia
    88. Romania
    89. Russia
    90. Georgia
    91. Georgia
    92. Bulgaria
    93. Iraq
    94. Albania
    95. Ukraine
    96. Belarus
    97. Moldova
    98. Armenia
    99. Zimbabwe

    Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.
    –Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

    Happiest US States

    1. Utah
    2. Hawaii
    3. Wyoming
    4. Colorado
    5. Minnesota
    6. Maryland
    7. Washington
    8. Massachusetts
    9. California
    10. Arizona
    11. Idaho
    12. Montana
    13. New Hampshire
    14. Vermont
    15. Virginia
    16. Nebraska
    17. New Mexico
    18. Oregon
    19. Connecticut
    20. Alaska
    21. Texas
    22. Kansas
    23. Georgia
    24. Wisconsin
    25. New Jersey
    26. South Carolina
    27. Iowa
    28. North Dakota
    29. Maine
    30. Florida
    31. Illinois
    32. Pennsylvania
    33. Alabama
    34. North Carolina
    35. New York
    36. Delaware
    37. Rhode Island
    38. Nevada
    39. South Dakota
    40. Louisiana
    41. Michigan
    42. Tennessee
    43. Oklahoma
    44. Missouri
    45. Indiana
    46. Arkansas
    47. Ohio
    48. Mississippi
    49. Kentucky
    50. West Virginia

    Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
    –Abraham Lincoln

    Really want to find happiness? Look inside yourself. And if you don’t look hard enough, you won’t find it.

  • Dennis the Mennis

    This past weekend, 39 House Democrats voted against the health care reform bill. It’s not surprising that 31 of the 39 defectors came from districts carried by John McCain in the presidential election. Here is an interactive graphic table from the New York Times that shows some interesting numbers: House Democrats Who Voted Against the Health Care Bill.

    One democrat who voted against the bill is worth mentioning. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio voted no, because the health care reform bill did not go far enough. He stated on his blog, “America will someday come to recognize the broad social and economic benefits of a not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, which is good for the American people and good for America’s businesses, with of course the notable exceptions being insurance and pharmaceuticals.” Kucinich’s full explanation of why he voted against the bill is worth reading: Dennis Kucinich Explains Why He Voted No On Affordable Health Care for America Act.

    This guy caught my attention during the presidential campaigns. Before the Presidential Primaries, I took one of those on-line political quizzes to see which presidential nominee matched my own political opinions. Although I supported Clinton at the time, my opinions lined up almost exactly with Dennis Kucinich. I also agree with Dennis regarding health care reform. In fact, the main reason I supported Hillary over Obama in the primaries is because Hillary had a better health care plan.

    So, why didn’t I support Kucinich? I did not support him, because I didn’t think he had a chance of winning. Maybe not a good reason, but the game of politics is not an easy one to play. While I understand that Kucinich voted no on principle, it’s a darn good thing that his no vote did not cause this bill to fail.

    One thing I’ve learned from having children with special needs is that sometimes you have to ‘play the game’, even if the game is stupid and unfair, and sometimes you have to compromise. This bill is not the answer to our health care problems, it is only a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, there is no way Kucinich’s own bill would ever pass into law at this time in history. But something has to change and some change is better than nothing. This bill includes a public option which is a key component to a better future for American health care.

    Here is a list of the House Democrats who voted against the bill:

    John Adler (NJ)
    Jason Altmire (PA)
    Brian Baird (WA)
    John Barrow (GA)
    John Boccieri (OH)
    Dan Boren (OK)
    Rick Boucher (VA)
    Allen Boyd (FL)
    Bobby Bright (AL)
    Ben Chandler (KT)
    Travis Childers (MS)
    Artur Davis (AL)
    Lincoln Davis (TN)
    Chet Edwards (TX)
    Bart Gordon (TN)
    Parker Griffith (AL)
    Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD)
    Tim Holden (PA)
    Larry Kissell (NC)
    Suzanne Kosmas (FL)
    Frank Kratovil (MD)
    Dennis Kucinich (OH)
    Jim Marshall (GA)
    Betsy Markey (CO)
    Eric Massa (NY)
    Jim Matheson(UT)
    Mike McIntyre (NC)
    Michael McMahon (NY)
    Charlie Melancon (LA)
    Walt Minnick (ID)
    Scott Murphy (NY)
    Glenn Nye (VA)
    Collin Peterson (MN)
    Mike Ross (AR)
    Heath Shuler (NC)
    Ike Skelton (MO)
    John Tanner (TN)
    Gene Taylor (MS)
    Harry Teague (NM)

    On to the Senate!

  • Fall Foliage on Grafton Common

    November 8th and no blog posts so far this month. It’s been a bit busier than usual, which tends to happen with the holidays right around the corner. To be honest, I’m always glad when the holiday season is over. Life is already too busy without adding a bunch more things to do.

    I’ve also been busy building a bedroom for Anthony on the first floor. I’m trying to get this done before the holidays, so this is taking up a lot of my time. I’ll post some photos of this project soon.

    I just uploaded some fall foliage photos to my flicker account that I took at the Grafton Common a few weeks ago. Grafton Common is extra beautiful in autumn, and many people have been married at the gazebo in October. Grafton Center is a quaint little New England common. Some say it is a perfect example of small-town New England. The town has been careful not to allow too much change to the area, so even though the town has grown a lot, the common has remain relatively unchanged for decades.

    One of Grafton’s claims to fame is the Grafton Gazebo, which sits on the common. The gazebo was built for a Hollywood film called Ah, Wilderness! in 1935, which starred Lionel Barrymore and Mickey Rooney, among others.

  • Swine ’09

    These days, we are over-saturated with news 24/7. Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish facts from hype. There has been plenty in the news about H1N1 (Swine Flu), but I honestly didn’t pay much attention to it. Remember all the hype surrounding the Bird Flu? Then all of a sudden, some sort of flu-like virus started spreading like crazy at Grafton High School where the twins go to school.

    Every day last week, more and more kids and teachers were out sick. My boys were out Wednesday with upset stomachs, which I think had more to do with my cooking than any type of flu. By Thursday, 236 students (about 36 percent of the total student body) were out sick. Friday, 46 percent of students and 43 percent of the faculty were sick.

    Since the regular seasonal flu was nowhere in the area, it seemed pretty clear that it was the Swine Flu spreading throughout the high school. The school had to be closed early at 11am on Friday and will remain closed until at least next Wednesday. During these four days, the school will be thoroughly cleaned and the students were told to not mingle with other students in order to try to halt the spread of this virus.

    On Friday, two students tested positive for H1N1 flu, which means that this is the most likely cause of all the absenteeism.

    Grafton High School is the only (or at least the first) school in the entire state that was forced to close because of the Swine Flu. What are the odds that we would be right smack in the middle of this epidemic? So far all three of my boys are fine.

    I also got a call from the collaborative where Anthony goes to school. They asked me not to send Anthony to school on Monday and Tuesday, because his brothers attend Grafton High School. So, all three boys will get a mini-vacation. Well, it will be a ‘vacation’ assuming that they don’t get sick…

    It is so strange to see our small town the focus of all the local news surrounding Swine Flu. And this was all going on while President Obama was visiting Massachusetts. He got back to Washington and declared a national emergency!

  • Dear John, I Support a Public Option!

    Dear John Boehner,

    Public Option Fact Check
    *All three House committees that have passed health insurance reform bills this session have included a public option. [Washington Post, 8/2/2009]

    *Polls continue to show that two out of every three Americans support health insurance reform that includes a public option. [Kaiser Family Foundation, Quinnipac, WSJ/NBC News, September 2009]

    *American physicians support a public option by an even greater margin—nearly three out of every four US doctors supports the inclusion of a public option in health insurance reform. [Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 9/14/09]

    I support a pubic option!
    Cynthia Bissell, RN, US citizen