Nanny State-Is She A Libertarian Now?!

The other day, while flipping through our broad array of standard cable channels, I happened upon our county PBS channel. There was a guy talking about how the U.S. Government was turning into a "Nanny State."

Simply the term intrigued me, but as he went on to talk about what he meant, I knew I at least had to read his book. It is David Harsanyi's premise that the government is ever-so-slowly creeping into our personal liberties under the guise of "doing what's good for you." This "nannyist" legislation ranges from mandatory seatbelt laws to making it a question of government as to whether or not a restaurant outside of Decatur, GA, can serve a hamburger on a bun of Krispy Kreme doughnuts (barf!).
Now, don't get me wrong, some of the legislation that he demeans clearly has benefits-clean air laws, for instance. I HATE going to restaurants with smoke. Actually, the author seems to have no problem with restaurants themselves saying they are "NON-SMOKING" restaurants. his problem is the fact that the government is making it THEIR business to tell the restaurants what they can and can't have in their business, even if ALL or most of their customers smoke or don't mind it in their place of business.
Another issue he brought up was the government deciding what you could and couldn't do in your own car. Did you know there is legislation in several states that is underway that hopes to ban smoking in cars? I'm not exactly sure of the reasoning, but it seems a little crazy to me. The restrictions on what people can and can't serve children at school is also really interesting.
Overall, Harsanyi's argument is that the American people aren't total morons. They know that wearing a seatbelt is probably a better idea than not wearing it. They know that eating a giant bowl of trans-fat goodness for breakfast isn't the best idea. But here's the thing: in a nation where we say "liberty" and "freedom," boneheads who want to drive without their seatbelts on after eating a trans fat meal from a fast food restaurant on their way to a party where they'll smoke all night...well they ought to have the FREEDOM to do it!
I'm not a libertarian. Yet. His arguments have their merits and their downfalls. All I'm saying is, it is certainly an interesting conversation.
I checked out this book from our library and finished it in two days. I recommend it, even if you think it might make you mad, it's at least interesting to ponder thoughts on liberty and freedom-thoughts I haven't had in a long time.

New Kitchen, No Food, New Way of Life?

Imagine the picture to the left being Tommie, eating pizza with a cheesy grin-so many pizzas in fact, it is almost a certainty his heart will explode from clogs and clots any day. Or, I guess since it is a picture of a girl, you could think of it as me. But I thought it was more fun to think of it as Tommie....

Anyway, this is my introduction to my post about kitchen remodeling! I have the fortunate placement in this world to have a mother who is a fabulous kitchen and bathroom designer. Typically though, her kitchens are astronomically expensive. But seeing as I am blood (and her favorite daughter...?), she graciously designed a kitchen for our condo that greatly enhances its aesthetic and actual value, all while ensuring we won't be paying for it for the rest of our lives!

Here's the trick though, in order to put a new kitchen in, you must take the old kitchen OUT. That means that for the past 5 days we have had no stove, no sink, no floor and no cabinets. So the already "multi-use" baby room/tommie's office has also become our kitchen cabinets and the storage place for our only appliance that can be used for cooking: the amazing microwave! Needless to say, we have anxiously accepted any and all offers to eat at other people's places any night we can. Otherwise, I fear the pizza fantasy above just might come true.

Thankfully, things are moving along on our kitchen and we're putting down our new slate floors in the next two days. That's even more exciting because that means we can pick up our new appliances and put them in on the floor so we can COOK! So hopefully the pizza will become a thing of the past (at least for a week or so) as we cook on our new Kennmore black, glass-top stove that we purchased at a bargain from Sears. (thank you Labor Day sales...and I guess thank you to whoever is being remembered on Labor Day, which I really can't remember who that is...)

So, I know kitchens may not be your #1 thought, interest or daydream, but until we're cooking again and avoiding the glory of fast food every day, I will be anxiously dreaming of our new cucina.