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When I said last week Casa Brillig might need to leave on short notice for Ethiopia, had no idea just how short! This time next week we will be in London recovering from jet lag and showing Kid Brillig 1 around. This time the following week Kids Brillig will have met and will be bonding over food, play, and many hand motions/pantomimes! We'll be in Africa until December 4th, then fly home on an 18-hour flight to Washington DC and then a shuttle to Boston.
I'll be on hiatus from Top Comments until at least mid-December, but I promise you a photo diary as a return if you promise to treat the Tuesday diarists as kindly as you've treated me. Deal?
Ethiopia is one of the most beautiful places on earth. The most ancient traces of human origin have been found there, making it quite possibly the birthplace of humanity. All three of the major Abrahamic religious traditions have had a presence here since ancient times: Christianity was adopted as the state religion in the 4th century C.E., it is the site of the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa, in Negash, and was home to the Beta Israel, a group recognized by Israel as Jewish in 1975. All three traditions, plus numerous other, co-exist without the strife found in so many other places.
It has been an independent country since ancient times, was one of only three African countries in the League of Nations, and was a charter member of the United Nations. Today, it is the headquarters of the African Union.
For many of us, however, our first memory of Ethiopia is from 1985, hearing the song We Are The World and seeing desperate pictures of the famine gripping Ethiopia and the rest of Eastern Africa. Unfortunately, drought combined with oppressive poverty, AIDS, and other issues has ravaged the country.
The agency we've worked with to bring our son home does more than simply place children relinquished to the state with new families. It believes placing children internationally is the option of last resort, not first, and works to better the country via a strong humanitarian mission. Let me share with you a couple of statistics from the front page of that link:
5 million, or 16% of all children in Ethiopia are orphans
1 in every 13 children dies before his/her first birthday
1 in 14 women will die from complications during pregnancy or childbirth
More than 1/3 of children under age 5 are malnourished
4 out of 5 families live on less than $2 a day
Fewer than 1 in 3 families in rural areas has access to a clean water source
We are bringing powdered formula, 50 lbs worth, with us because the orphanage our son is at is in desperate need. There is not a steady, reliable source of formula in country; when the need is critical the director drives 8 hours to Kenya to purchase supplies. We will be asking our friends and family this year to donate to relief efforts there or elsewhere in the world this holiday season. And I'm asking you all to.. as PastorDan would say... pray (meditate, hold in good thought) the people of Ethiopia, which as of the day our adoption became final became part of my family's heritage, too.
See y'all when we get back. Be good to one another, play nice, and I'll miss you all terribly.
- - - - -
One last check of the TC Tuesday mailbox before I turn the reins over to the rest of the crew!
From lineatus:
superbowlxx starts an entertaining thread
From Pam from Calif:
This one by Uncle Moji was supposed to be in last night, but was missing some identifying info.
From RL Miller:
from blue aardvark's snout to FSM's ears.
From Dixie Liberal:
This Comment and response by Ernest T Bass and Diarist AlyoshaKaramozov is worth a chuckle.
From phonegery:
Someone did a video of employees at a new Microsoft store opening in Mission Viejo CA. blue aardvark interprets.
I wanted to haz comments mined by my very own hands. But said hands were busy choosing eyeglasses for Casa Trouble, so that they could be ordered, and picked up/fitted, before we leave town on friday. Oh yeah, then there was the moving furniture from KB1 to KB2's room, with followup moving of other furniture. Please forgive me.
Top Mojo!! cskendrick and sardonyx make the magic happen with their formulas and spreadsheets. I just run em :-)
Top 30 (plus ties) Comments excluding tip jars, first comments and stuff:
1) It seems this entire diary should be by Pager — 181
2) I think they Know EXACTLY what this type of by MinistryOfTruth — 166
3) They don't call it the Moonie Times by Steven D — 121
4) Really! I just sent a wire hanger to by Lisa Lockwood — 111
5) He obviously lacked the blood impulse to run by grannyhelen — 110
6) Now let the medical schools follow suit. nt by nailbender — 105
7) Let's keep the momentum by pollbuster — 86
8) It seems to me that a certain segment of this by lookit — 83
9) I applaud the medical volunteers heartily, and by Eileen B — 81
10) This is one of the most ludicrous diaries I've by rontun — 78
11) Wall Street - Business as Usual by JekyllnHyde — 78
12) I know hernias. by RudiB — 73
13) Triciawyse!!! by leftynyc — 70
14) Obama has been great diplomatically, imo. by math4barack — 70
15) humph! by GlowNZ — 69
16) asdf by droogie6655321 — 68
17) This little guy by leftynyc — 67
18) It strikes me that one of the more do-able by blue jersey mom — 65
19) And no one is stopping them by o the umanity — 65
20) Hai Tricia. by blue jersey mom — 65
21) Welcome back for good triciawyse !!!!!! by jwinIL14 — 65
22) woo hoooooooooooo! by bubbanomics — 65
23) I am totally into these bowing Obama pics!!! by Drdemocrat — 64
24) Woo hoo! by AnnCetera — 64
25) In honor of this diary by noweasels — 63
26) i recently wrote about fallujah by Turkana — 62
27) Gone to her furever home by welso — 62
28) sadly by Turkana — 61
29) Thank you. I am recycling this from my psychotic by JanF — 61
30) Happy Tuesday everyone by leftynyc — 60
31) Woo-Hoo!!! by Ebby — 60
Top 30 Comments with no exclusions, aka the Tip Jar list :-):
1) The real American Neo-Nazis... by Turkana — 534
2) Tip Jar by hissyspit — 496
3) Tip Jar by LaurenMonica — 477
4) Tip Jar by leevank — 372
5) Tip Jar by blackwaterdog — 358
6) Tips for What The Fox? by MinistryOfTruth — 349
7) Alms (tips) by Muskegon Critic — 348
8) Tip Jar by AlyoshaKaramazov — 284
9) Tip Jar by bobswern — 259
10) Tip Jar by Cenk Uygur — 237
11) Tips for SheKos by droogie6655321 — 193
12) Tip Jar by charcharczar — 191
13) Tip Jar by Fonsia — 191
14) It seems this entire diary should be by Pager — 181
15) I think they Know EXACTLY what this type of by MinistryOfTruth — 166
16) Tip Jar by BFSkinner — 161
17) Tips, flames, etc... by triciawyse — 136
18) Welcome to the front porch by Black Kos — 129
19) Tip Jar by iced327 — 124
20) They don't call it the Moonie Times by Steven D — 121
21) This announcement makes public pressure on by RLMiller — 121
22) Really! I just sent a wire hanger to by Lisa Lockwood — 111
23) He obviously lacked the blood impulse to run by grannyhelen — 110
24) Tips Go Here by Muzikal203 — 109
25) Now let the medical schools follow suit. nt by nailbender — 105
26) Tip Jar by cedubose — 99
27) Tip Jar by teacherken — 90
28) Let's keep the momentum by pollbuster — 86
29) Tip Jar by Avenging Angel — 84
30) It seems to me that a certain segment of this by lookit — 83
