There's been more than enough grim news this morning. How about something lighter?
The Los Angeles Times catches up with the every-12-years story that since it's the "Year of the Dragon" in the zodiac cycle that means "in Chinese, Vietnamese and other Asian communities across the world" this is thought to be an especially fortunate time to have a baby.
And it says that "in the United States, the allure of the dragon baby still holds for many families. 'We've had a 250% increase in Chinese, Vietnamese clients in the last two months,' said Kathryn Kaycoff Manos, co-founder of Global IVF and Agency for Surrogacy Solutions in Los Angeles."
As The Associated Press has explained, "the Chinese [and many other Asians] believe that babies born in this iteration of the 12-year Zodiac cycle are gifted with prodigious quantities of luck and strength. In ancient times the dragon was a symbol reserved for the Chinese emperor, and it is considered to be an extremely auspicious sign."
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has encouraged his constituents to get busy, so to speak. The Year of the Dragon began on Jan. 23.
Full disclosure: This blogger's daughter is a Year of the Dragon baby. And in this dad's humble opinion, she indeed is blessed.
Update at 3:45 p.m. ET: Oops. Before Mrs. Memmott notices, I'd better note that she's also a Year of the Dragon baby.
Correction at 10:20 a.m. ET, Feb. 9: Earlier, we misspelled part of the Taiwanese president's name. It's now correct above. Our apologies.
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