This is SERIOUSLY F-ed up!

My mom e-mailed me from Taipei last night, she just got there after spending a few days in China.

"Apparently I have caught some kind of bug and they will not let me continue on the plane so I am stuck in Taipei right now. I went to the hospital this morning but they do not think it is the bird flu so they gave me a bunch of medications and told me to wear a mask and stay in bed for a couple of days. I feel pretty awful and they are cleaning my room now so I came down to the business center for internet access. I'm sure I will be better in a couple days but I will have to make it home by myself since the rest of the group had to go onto Manila. I will let you know what my new intinery is when the Dr. tells me I can fly. The hospital was pretty bad but I am in my hotel, The Howard Plaza which is a pretty nice place. I will see if there is some way that I can call you tomorrow. . . I love you very much. Mom"

Then I read this on CNN:
"China confirms first human bird flu cases - BEIJING, China (AP) -- China on Wednesday reported its first three confirmed human cases of bird flu as the government raced to vaccinate billions of chickens, ducks and other poultry in a massive effort to stop the spread of the virus."

I had to have the very serious conversation with my step-father this morning about which one of us had the stronger immune system in case one of us has to fly to Taipei (which I recently found out wasn't in China, it is in Taiwan - thank god for Google) to bring her home. I WARNED her! I told her not to go. She is a very fragile little mother and gets sick easily, I spent years calling her a hypochondriac, but perhaps I was wrong.

Plus, there has been all of this controversy surrounding her new job, the job that required that she travel to Asia to sell wheat. It all started with a letter to the editor blasting her, the Dept. of Ag and the Governor, then it became a blog, then to a meeting where they threatened to launch an investigation into her hiring and threatened to cut the funding for her position. Who is they? Republican farmers from Ft. Benton. I say send one of those SOB's over to China to sell wheat and barley and bring my momma home. They sat there for two days questioning her qualifications, her contributions to the governor's campaign ($0) and the lies she told to get the job and then they pat her on the back and tell her to have fun in Asia. "Have fun in Asia, you might not have a job when you get back, don't forget to sell lots of wheat and barley."

The only silver lining is that the Pres is currently in Asia on a trade mission. Maybe he will get the bird flu, him and Arnie.