So far, the women’s US National is looking good, and hopes to beat Brazil on Thursday in the semifinals to advance to the Finals in China on Sunday.

The United States’ women’s national team is currently ranked #1 in the world, and clinching the “World Cup Champions” title on Sunday will keep them in that place.

The United States has plenty of talent - Ali Wagner is phenomenal to watch (I played against her in Club and High School back in the 90s in San Jose - or I should say, I tried to play against her!)

Hopefully at some point, the US Men’s team can reach the World Cup Finals. In the meantime, we’ll continue to cheer for and support our women - Go USA!

Six years ago, and Oregon man stumbled upon a baby deer that had deformed feet. Instead of ignorning it, he did the humane thing, and took her to the vet and paid thousands of dollars to help get her better. She has become his pet, and he named her Snowball. She also gave birth to a baby, Bucky, and things seemed to be going along just fine until Oregon authorities stepped in.

They seized the animals and threatened to put them down, all because Jim Filipetti didn’t have one of 16 available wild animal rehabilitation licenses.

This story has outraged Oregon residents, as well it should. One man commented that people could get a license to kill deer, but heaven forbid if anyone tried to help one. Due to the pressure from citizens, the Fish & Wildlife division has decided not to euthenize the animals, and Filipetti could perhaps get Snowball back, however, it looks as if Bucky will be on his own - a decision as to his fate hasn’t been made yet.

I think this story is completely outrageous. Filipetti has done no harm in rescuing Snowball. Why punish someone for doing the right thing? Government needs to take a giant step back, admit to making a mistake with this, and give him Snowball and Bucky back. This is a pathetic case of government over-involvement. Why take animals away from the best home/care they’ll ever receive? Come on, Oregon. Do the right thing - let the deer go back to the only home they’ve ever known.

For more information, check out the story here.

I was reading this morning about the different candidates running for president, and I’m pretty open to hear what everyone has to say. For me, the most important thing is someone that is fiscally conservative - either Republican or Democrat. One thing that greatly concerns me is any implications that political decisions will have on my small business, and whether decisions made by politicians will make it difficult for us to keep it running.

I was reading today about Hillary Clinton’s Universal Health Care plan, and I became pretty concerned. She wants to require all businesses (small ones included) to offer health insurance to all employees. I think that it is a noble plan to try to get everyone health insurance (believe me, I’ve been in the boat of having a hard time getting insurance), however, by forcing small businesses to offer this, all this will do is force small businesses to lay off people because they can’t afford to insure all of their employees. I say this from the perspective of a small business owner. Granted, there may be some tax cuts offered, however, any additional expenses will really push some companies over the edge, and either force them to close, or lay off employees.

Requiring all businesses to offer insurance to all employees is not the way to go. Hopefully there will be someone that comes along that has a feasable idea of how to handle this problem. Mitt Romney did a good job in Massachusetts - I’d like to hear what other candidates propose.

Honey just went to the vet on Thursday for a checkup, and she seems to be doing pretty well. Dr. Orr wants to have her totally off of medicine to see how she’s doing. She finally started eating some hay on her own last week, and Thursday we had a major breakthrough. She started drinking a little bit of water from her sipper bottle. We’re really happy about this - we’re not going to be giving her fluid injections this week, so she really needs to drink to be sure she’s getting her needed fluids.

Her feet still have sores - it’s really sad. Those will probably take a while to heal, but hopefully she’ll keep getting better. But we’re excited that she’s eating her hay, and last night she started eating some timothy hay pellets. Fingers crossed - hopefully she’ll keep getting better. It’s amazing how long it takes for bunnies to recover from illnesses like that. She’s doing well, and hopefully she’ll keep doing better. More later!

Alright, so for those of you that read my blog about 20 minutes ago, you may be somewhat confused. No, I didn’t recently have a baby, and no, I’m not taking a weight loss supplement. I just had a blogdesk error, and accidentally posted an article about a client to my personal blog rather than a company blog.

I think Preston can relate to what I’m talking about. I love blogdesk, but sometimes I hate it.

Oops.

Today, September 11, 2007, marks the sixth anniversary of the worst terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. To me, it’s a day of remembrance - one that we as United States citizens should never forget.

It saddens me that while driving to work and listing to the radio this morning, I really didn’t hear any talk about it. I hope that people aren’t starting to forget what happened. We need to remember it and keep the victim’s memories alive. We can’t become complacent about it.

Every year I think about where I was. I remember so much about that day, from what I was wearing (a red and black striped shirt with black slacks) to where I was when I heard about it (my apartment on Riverside Ave. in Provo). I’m sure few people will ever forget that day - it’s a day that changed America. I remember being so sad for so long - tears would stream down my face as I watched those planes crash over and over again on the news. The pain seemed overwhelming - it was so hard to believe that something like that could happen here. In America. I can still feel that sadness as I think back to what happened.

I hope that as people go throughout their day today that they will remember what happened, and honor the victims’ memories. I like to remember how unified our country became on that day - political lines blurred, and neighbors supported one another. I hope that we can think back to that, and try to reincorporate some of those ideals. I know that there are many divisive issues going on today, however, I will try to become more compassionate and understanding towards those that have differing views from mine. I hope others can try to do the same. That is one good thing we can take from such a horrible event.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims, and also the rescue workers that are now facing health problems as a result of their heroic actions. My God bless them. And may we as a country never forget what happened on September 11, 2001.