Well, after complaining about other people's food, making rude comments about others, and generally being French, Jacques Chirac has lost the Olympics. This morning I heard on the radio that London will host the next Olympics. Bully for the Brits!

One other comment I heard this morning that I found of interest: as well-intentioned as Live 8 is, the one thing that Africans would most benefit from is the one thing that these rockers are loathe to promote: free market capitalism, the system by which they themselves became rich. Hmmm. The more I hear from these entertainers, the more I wonder whether they went into this effort without consulting, say, economists and political scientists. I think it's wonderful, truly admirable, that these people want to help change the situation in Africa, that they're willing to give their money for this cause. I just really want this effort to work, not line the pockets of dictators and corrupt bureaucracies while people continue to starve and suffer under oppression. How much good did Live Aid do in the '80's? What did the whole We Are The World movement do aside from making us feel good about ourselves? Without meaningful pressure for real political change in Africa, I'm skeptical about the effectiveness of this effort.

Speaking of politics, Minnesota has been shut down. No, seriously - the government has basically been shut down because our elected representatives couldn't stop posturing and making sound bites for the TV cameras long enough to actually do their job and work out a budget. They couldn't even decide on a place to meet to discuss it. So people have been laid off. One woman laid off was shown on the local news selling cookies on the capitol steps. If you happened to be driving across the state over the Independence Day weekend - an unlikely situation, I know - you would have found that all of the rest areas along the interstate were closed, blocked off with cones. You know, when anybody else fails to perform their job, they get fired, right? Despite what their sizable egos tell them, politicians aren't any better than the rest of us, so perhaps we should follow suit?

Independence Day was fun - we went down to the in-laws' new house in Iowa and visited with family. We never actually went anywhere to watch fireworks, but we saw some here and there as we drove or turned on the TV, and we heard them pretty much 'round the clock. We had a good time, but we were also glad to get home again. I guess we've been here long enough that we really do think of Minneapolis "home" when it comes down to it.