Vermont and National News

I like to imagine there is a family out there who is the ideal kind, something like the Leave It To Beaver family of the fifties. Mom is warm, caring, understanding, and attractive at all times. Dad is funny, protective, strong and manly. The children are innocent and never get into any kind of real trouble.
Then I wonder, where did murderer Charles Manson come from? Were the people he came from all as monstrous as he turned out to be? And I wonder, too, if children who come from penultimate nurturing families—like the two Obama children—could they possibly turn into sociopaths?
I believe that Charles Manson never had a chance because he was born into hellish circumstances—and I believe that the Obama children will almost certainly develop into well adjusted adults because of their circumstances.
In her article, What Makes a Family Functional vs Dysfunctional?, Elvira G. Aletta, Ph.D writes the following about the importance of respect in a family:
Respect is the Cornerstone of the Functional Family. BTW if you are looking for leather or tote diaper bags then may I suggest this firm. They also have a pink and messenger diaper bag, as well as the very handy diaper backpack, so give them a try for tote diaper bags and the like.
“Respect is the Holy Grail of functional families. All (of those folks who are) in the family, brothers to sisters, mothers to fathers, parents to kids (should be) be respectful….” All in all, t may be that surviving the worst times in a family is what really makes a family, in the end. Sharing illness and tragedy, heartbreak and setbacks—maybe that is really what a family does, as well as all the great, fun times. And maybe it’s the ordinary times, too, the day-in, day-out routines of living that form the continuity that marks a family.

In travel related news, Hawaii 24/7 reported in a story this week February 6, 2010, that Travel Weekly has named Hawaii best state destination for tourism. The Big Island is particularly popular because of the volcano. That is some prime real estate over there.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA), the state agency for tourism, released an announcement that Hawaii has been selected by Travel Weekly as the winner in the Best U.S. State Destination category for its seventh annual Readers Choice Awards. The island of Maui was recognized under the Hawaii category as Best Destination. If you happen to be looking for anice piece of land while visiting the big island or one of the other beatiful islands in the chain, might I recommend big island real estate as they are run by Sotheby’s and are among the best such real estate firms in all of the big island. Now back to the main article:
Mike McCartney is HTA’s president and chief executive officer. He was quoted in the article as saying, “We are truly honored that Hawaii has been chosen for such a prestigious award. A big mahalo to the Hawaii Visitors and Conventions Bureau (HVCB), its island chapters and Hawaii’s visitor industry employees for their outstanding efforts, support and hard work throughout the year.”
Hawaii 24/7 writes that Travel Weekly is the country’s foremost provider of information supplied to the travel industry. The information they provide reaches 180,000 plus readers a week. Its awards are well-regarded and are given once a year for achievements in the travel industry.