Ramona is no lamb.

Looks like all the rumors about alligators living in the sewers are true. After the whole coyote thing in Central Park a couple months back, this makes me wonder if there's anything hiding in the lake...

Annual Assumption Day Parade Ends In Violence: “WEST SAYVILLE, NY - For generations, the St. Mary Malankara Indian Orthodox Church’s annual Assumption Day Parade was peacefully attended by faithful fans of the congregation’s colorful tribute to the Virgin and the devout alike. But this past Sunday, the church’s usual reverential parade was halted by violence brought on by anti-foreigner protestors -- despite the fact that many performers are US citizens...”

What was that supposed to do? The parade had been held for ages, and most of the participants were Americans who lived in the town. It's completely fucked up: a group of innocent people were attacked based on their ethnicity, and even if the anti-foreigner protestors are apprehended, the attendees of that church aren't going to feel safe for ages. And the protestors will probably get

[PWP: MAGGIE YAZZIE, JOSEPH YAZZIE, ADHAF AL-QADDUMI, LEO OAKLEY]
Do you any of you guys want to be interviewed for the BAL partnership, or know someone who might be interested? I interviewed some people from my Intervention class, but I'd like a couple more student interviews.

[PWP: ANDREW LAMB]
Hey Gramps! I have a question for you. [/PWP]

I don't think I've ever been so happy to enter an air-conditioned apartment. Seriously, if you think the heat's bad on the streets, try taking the metro. There's no escape, it's like being inside an oven.

I can't get over how Paris Hilton made through the primary elections. Seriously D5, what the hell?

The view from the Wonder Wheel!

About to go on the Air Race. If I somehow manage to fly off and die, know that I died happy!

When people are done banning foreign literature, do you think they'll go after certain pieces of American literature? Going by the works listed in that news article about the English teacher in Savannah, I don't see why works like Fahrenheit 451 or even You and Yours wouldn't be on some other teacher's banned books list a couple years from now.

[OOC: Welcome to another adopt-a-cat vlog! Ramona's in her bedroom this time, with a kitten on her lap.]

"Hey, everyone! Ramona here, promoting animal adoption for Caring Hands. Apparently, Charlie Guiteau was adopted pretty quickly after I posted that vlog entry, so they asked me to do another one. This time, I'm introducing the Big Apple to--"

[Ramona gently picks up the kitten in her lap, cradling him. The kitten looks at the camera and mewls, as if on cue.]

"This little guy! He doesn't have a name--he and a bunch of other kittens were left at the shelter a while back with no info. The other kittens have been all adopted, except for this one. A quick run down on our friend here: he's a two-month old Maine Coon, which means that when he gets older, he's going to get very big--if you want to see how big, Google "Maine Coon" to see. That said, Maine Coon cats are very sweet, but the size might be a problem for some. The little guy is also flea-free, so that's a plus!

[Ramona looks off-screen for a second, then looks back at the camera. She smiles]

"Well, it's time to wrap this up! If you, or someone you know, is interested in adopting a kitten, consider this little guy! Like I said in the last video, the street address and contact info for Caring Hands Animal Shelter can be found at www.ch-animals.com Bye!"

Hopefully I won't jinx myself by saying this, but I cannot wait to start school next week. If I have to make one more spreadsheet, or have to send out another memo on "manager-employee relations" it's very likely that I will lose my mind.

"Off-Broadway Production Of The Crucible Shut Down After Two Performances: Director Tania Lundholm is under investigation after rumors of her off-Broadway production of Arthur Miller's famous Cold War play was rumored to have allusions to topical connections to the Edwards government embedded within the script."

I don't know about you, but I am just so glad that seditionary nonsense like this is being taken care of. I mean, can you imagine if Tania Lundholm's production was allowed to run for more than two nights? I'm sure that there would uprising at the end of the month, what with Lundholm's rumored references to the current political climate. And even if the rumors are just rumors--Arthur Miller's The Crucible? There's a reason McCarthy and the boys blacklisted him, you know.

All sarcasm aside, censorship is bullshit. If there were allusions to topical events in the production, so what? If you want to criticize something, you should be able to without having to worry about being investigated or having your show shut down.

Shootings in Astoria, radiation continues to spread across the US, and the FBI is getting involved with the Housing and Redistricting Act. What an awesome week.

[OOC: It's yet another video post, gang! This time, Ramona's in the great outdoors--Central Park, to be more specific. The video starts off on a close up of Ramona's face and, slightly out of frame, a co-worker's. Her speech is rapid, and excited. Ramona's co-worker is definitely freaked out, and is saying "Oh my god" over and over as she enters something on her iHolo. Ramona speaks softly and quickly.]

Um, okay, so Becky and I decided to take our lunch break in the park today, and, um, we going to take this shortcut back to work when we saw, um, this dude--

[Ramona turns around her iHolo to face the park scenery. They're in the loch, and it appears that they're standing on top of a stone bridge. Farther ahead is a small shape crouched down near a stream. Ramona speaks softly.]

Hang on, I don't think you can see him yet...

[Ramona zooms in on the figure. It's, believe it or not, a coyote. It's drinking from the stream, and appears unaware of it's papparaza.]

Can you believe that?! [It's hard to tell if Ramona unnerved or excited by the sighting.] Um, okay, we're in Central Park, the loch, if you couldn't tell, and it's around one o'clock, I think. Hopefully someone at animal control sees this, because Becky's been trying to get a hold of them for about five minutes now and they still haven't picked up.

[Ramona swings the camera around to face her and Becky again. She grins nervously.]

And now it's time for us to get the hell out of dodge. See ya!

[Ramona is sitting on a lumpy, worn out couch, light streaming in from the windows behind her. Welcome to Chez Lamb! We can only see her from the chest up--it looks like she's holding something in her lap, but we can't see it just yet.]

Hello, New York! Ramona here, with a very special guest...

[Ramona reaches out to press a button on the iHolo, and the camera zooms back to reveal what's sitting in her lap. It's a cat!]

Meet Charles Guiteau! [As if on cue, "Charles" meows.] Well, Charlotte, actually, as Sunday's trip to the vet revealed. Charlie is a stray--Gramps found her getting beat up by this fat orange cat about...[Ramona pauses, brows knit as she tries to remember how long the cat's been around for] two weeks ago, I think. Hence the name, Charles Guiteau. Now, what Gramps and I normally do with strays like Charlie is take them to the vet, or care for them on our own, then give them to the Caring Hands Animal Shelter in District 0. I've decided, however, to do a little advertising for our feline friend here before she moves on. So, Charlie, in a nutshell: calico cat, about two years old, according to the vet. No fleas or ticks, and she's been declawed, so we think she might have been abandoned at some point before we found her. [Ramona frowns, and mutters "the jackasses" under her breath.] Despite the name, Charlie here is a sweetie--the most she done to bother me is jump into the laundry after I've just taken it out, but I'm sure she can get over that with some training! So, if you want to adopt Charlie, or another animal at the Caring Hands Animal Shelter, just go to www.ch-animals.com to get their contact information.

Well, it's time for me and Charlie to sign off. Bye! [Petting Charlie, Ramona reaches out the iHolo a second time, and turns it off.]

Why pick a member of an administration that everyone hated to join your cabinet? I mean, Schlottmann? If this is an attempt at bipartisanship, it's a poor one.

On a less political note, what sounds better--Chinese or Indian takeaway?

( Someone's got to come and take us all out of here.  )