Southern Sudan votes 99.57% for Independence!

It has been a LONG time in coming, but the Sudanese finally got a chance to vote for the independence of Southern Sudan. How sure are they of their desire for separation? They voted 99.57% for independence! And unlike most votes of this magnitude, there are no charges of fraud being bandied about in the international press.

Six of the ten southern states registered a 99.9 percent vote for separation, with the lowest vote in favor of secession came in at 95.5 percent in Western Bahr al-Ghazal state, which borders Darfur. The long-awaited referendum produced an overwhelming turnout of 99 percent among voters in the south, one of the poorest and least developed regions on earth.

In northern Sudan, voter turnout was only 60 percent, and a modest 58 percent of voters – southerners who live in the north – were in favor of the oil-rich south breaking away. Many southerners opted to leave their lives and work in the north to move home ahead of the referendum, and the United Nations says it expects another 100,000 southerners to make the north-south journey within the next month. More than 190,000 southerners have flooded back into the south since early October, though the most recent arrivals were not able to participate in the referendum, since they had not registered to vote in either the north or the south.

Keep in mind (and your prayers) that this does not end the matter. The North still wants large portions of the South, and especially their lucrative oil fields. There are a number of issues to be worked out. But the fact that the vote took place - without violence - is a hopeful sign that peace may finally come to this poor war-town nation.

Here's hoping...

From here

Olympia Snowe on Congressional Attitudes

Senator Olympia Snowe (R - Maine) was the only Republican to vote for one of the Health Care Reform Bills to come out of the Congressional committees. She sat down for an interview with ABCNews and gave a very weak defense for her vote. But there was one nugget of gold in the interview.

I think for so long the art of legislating has been lost here in Congress and it’s all about just moving it along on the fast track, and I think that unfortunately the big issues have been set aside.

I think this hits the nail on the head about a major problem with the current Congress. Rather than taking on an issue, having a full public hearing and debate, and then a vote, everything in the "Democratic One Party Congress" is rushed through. This has lead to cases where Congresspeople of both sides are required to vote on multi-thousand-page legislation without any time to read it. And has allowed no opportunities for bipartisanship.

Listen to Senator Snowe, Democrats. A Congress without time to do it right is a Congress who can accomplish nothing, except for things they will regret later. "Anything now" is not better than "the right thing later".

Wildwood voted "Top NJ Heritage Destination"

CRChair and I have made no secret of our unabashed love for all things Wildwood. So it was with considerable excitement that I saw the non-profit group "Heritage New Jersey" held a contest and the Wildwoods were voted Top NJ Heritage Destination. It certainly has been important to my personal heritage.

"The Wildwoods by-the-Sea are the best heritage tourism destination in New Jersey because visiting takes you back to a time when America was at its optimistic best,'' he said. "When the Garden State Parkway was completed in the 1950's hundreds of motels were built. They are fanciful motels designed to appeal to the passing motorist. They have exotic names like Shalimar, Royal Hawaiian, Pink Champagne, and Caribbean. Each one was designed to appeal to any type of visitor, to forget where he or she came from and transport them to a tropical location within a short drive from home.

"When I'm in Wildwood, I am taken back to my own childhood,'' Hirsch said. "I ride my bike on the three-mile boardwalk – only in the morning – I sit on the largest, safest, free beach in New Jersey, I eat locally made ice cream, and play miniature golf. Who gets to go back to their own childhood for the weekend? I do. When I was child the water tower read, ‘Wildwood Welcomes the World.' It's still true.''

This is great news for the tourism trade of the Jersey Shore. Here is hoping many new people discover the joys of the Wildwoods. If you are interested in learning more yourself, this is a good place to start (warning, music plays when you open the site).

Equal Time

See more Natalie Portman videos at Funny or Die