One of the challenges to being separated is setting up two households where there was previously one.  Such is my life.

We did marginally good with what we had, and so far only a minimal amount of purchases and such to complete the picture.

As a lot of my free time is cleaning out stuff, moving stuff, dividing stuff and occasionally selling stuff, my blogging will continue to limited for a week or so.

But that won’t stop me from a few posts, including this round up of interesting links I found. 

First up, a pair of miracles.  The first brings echoes of Harry Potter:

 Baby survives Baghdad bomb in slain mother’s lap

A baby miraculously survived a Baghdad car bombing cradled in his mother’s lap as she was burned alive in a blast that claimed the lives of eight people on Tuesday, witnesses said.

Harry, of course was attacked by he who must not be named.  I have no such problem naming the bastards who nearly killed this child, and did slay its mother.

In a battle against nature as opposed to man, our second miracle:

98-year-old shares the secret of quake survival: crochet

Another of those rescued today was Maria D’Antuono, 98, who said that she had spent 30 hours knitting as she waited to be freed from her ruined home.

“I worked, I knitted,” said Mrs D’Antuono, from the village of Tempera, close to L’Aquila. The redoubtable nonagenarian told rescuers that she was in good health when she was found this morning, according to Sky TG24.

In a side note, I deeply saddened by the death and injury toll from the earthquake, and also saddened by the loss of so much history in destroyed buildings.

 An ironic statistic:

World wine consumption falls for 1st time in years

Shun that bottle and save your euros: That’s what French and Italians are saying as the recession cuts into wine consumption in traditional lands of the vine.

…

After years of non-stop growth, global wine consumption started to retreat last year, along with the rest of the world economy, The International Organization of Vine and Wine said Tuesday.

 A sad world when we are to broke to booze it up.  But not to worry:

The overall drop isn’t too dramatic: The group says its initial estimates for 2008 show consumption down 0.8 percent, at 243 million hectoliters (6.4 billion gallons) compared to 2007’s 245 million hectoliters.

And…

An industry group says the crisis hasn’t choked off everyone’s thirst, however. New World drinkers are still sipping steadily and Brazilians “are really starting to believe in the vine.”

And of course…

For the first time, the United States surpassed Italy in terms of total wine consumption, with 27.3 million hectoliters compared to 26 million for Italy, the group said.

Finally, a source of national pride.  We are out drinking the Italians….

This just in, another reason to hate banks:

Iranian nuke plot vaporized in the city: NY banks unwittingly aided in material transfers, says DA

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has smashed a sinister plot to smuggle nuclear weapons materials to Iran through unwitting New York banks, the Daily News has learned.

Officials plan to unseal a 118-count indictment Tuesday accusing a Chinese national of setting up a handful of fake companies to hide that he was selling millions of dollars in potential nuclear materials to Tehran.

Are we about ready to take China and Iran seriously yet?

This is just sad, but more importantly, it is the realization of many peoples worst nightmare:

VA patient tests HIV-positive after clinic mistake

The Veterans Affairs Department is investigating whether there’s a link between a patient’s positive HIV test and unsterilized equipment that may have exposed thousands of veterans to infectious diseases.

The positive test was the first reported since the department warned veterans treated at three clinics that they might be at risk.

When one considers AIDS it is convenient and easy to dismiss it as a ‘gay thing’ and even, for some loons, to dismiss it as a just deserts kind of punishment thing.  But the reality is that at the root, it is a disease, and sometimes people who are totally innocent get infected.  More research needs to be made to eradicate it, as well as cancer and so many other diseases.  Pity all our money is going to bailout car manufactures and banks, hmm?   

Put it this way:  I would be more willing to support placing future generations  under the threat of crushing debt if we gave them a gift for the cost, the eradication of horrible diseases.

Life:  The gift that keeps on giving. 

Or.

Bailouts:  The debt that keeps on taking.

You make the call.

Not sure what to make of this next one.  I had no idea she had a school in the first place…

 Oprah school locked up students

 FOUR students claim they were kept in solitary confinement for two weeks before being expelled from the Oprah Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

What happens in South Africa, stays in South Africa?

The girls, who were among seven pupils accused of forcing fellow students into sexual relationships and engaging in bullying and harassment, told a South African newspaper of how they were treated before being sent home.

Speaking to The Star of Capetown, the girls claim guards were stationed outside their rooms and they were barred from attending class or communicating to other students during the initial investigation.

Per Oprah:

Lisa Halliday, a spokesperson for Oprah, said the girls underwent “in-school suspension.” Security guards were there for the safety of the pupils, according to Halliday.

 Whatever.  If she has her stamp on the school, she might want to be a bit more involved.

And finally, we are occasionally faced with stories of what is known as police assisted suicide, but this may be the first time I can recall Military assisted suicide…

Pilot of Stolen Cessna Wanted U.S. Fighter Jets to Shoot Him Down

The Canadian man who led fighter jets on a chase across six states Monday flew his stolen plane into the United States. in hopes the military would shoot him down and kill him, according to a Missouri state trooper who apprehended the rogue pilot.

Missouri state trooper Justin Watson told “Good Morning America” today that 31-year-old Yavuz Berke, formerly known as Adam Leon, wanted to commit suicide, but didn’t have the courage to do it himself.

Wimp.

That’s all for tonight.  See ya tomorrow.

I leave you with these quotes:

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.  ~Anatole France

There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse!  As I have often found in traveling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one’s position, and be bruised in a new place.  ~Washington Irving

Trackposted to Nuke’s, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Rosemary’s Thoughts, third world county, Allie is Wired, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, The Pink Flamingo, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.