blzrul

Funny to say I agree with you. I have found the spiral into downright hostility towards one fellow man - or woman - to be very disconcerting. Our "instant gratification" society seems to have spilled over into our inability to control our tempers, our actions, etc. Or outright refusal to do so. I often wonder what would happen if a REAL crisis came our way? Would we pull together like we did during WWII? Or would we just fight each other and go down the drain clutching at each other's throats. Personally I don't care for Howard Stern either, because of the way he demeans women, but I agree with you that those dummies know what they're geting into and therefore deserve what they get. I exercise my right not to listen but don't deny you yours. 49 isn't that old Bill.

He's never really far away...just as no-one expects the Spanish Inquisition, no-one expects BiB and he'll surface JUST when we're most likely to be taken by surprise. A pleasant surprise too if I may say so.

Look at the Lynndie England thing - her lawyer has her enter a guilty plea and allocute that she knew what she did was wrong when she did it...then puts someone on the stand who testifies that she thought she was doing right because she was ordered by superiors. Of course given the resultant mistrial perhaps this was a brilliant move...but it seems like a fairly big gamble if that's the case. The defense first wanted the judge to recuse himself and now this...perhaps it's their version of the nukeyoular option. Or maybe it's just an attorney outsmarting him/herself.

I rest my case - NEITHER of these people is right. I'm not defending Jane Fonda, but I'm also holding the spitter accountable for his bad behaviour. I don't like Ann Coulter, but I'm also not defending the Ann Coulter basher - he was out of line. On the other hand YOU are going to back "your side" no matter what. Two wrongs don't make a right. That was my point. You apparently missed it.

Someone spits tobacco juice in Jane Fonda's face. Someone hurls obscenities at Ann Coulter. Both think they're justified. But in reality both are guilty of bad behaviour - seeking to justify either one of them is a sad sign of how this society has become so degraded the past couple of decades.

What's interesting is the exchange with her / her attorneys and the judge. Her story has changed substantially from when she was interviewed early on, and the judge pushed really hard to determine whether she was pleading out because she was guilty, or because it was expeditious for her. It was almost like he wanted her to come with the story about from whence she received her orders, etc (which is what she originally stated). Frankly she definitely doesn't seem smart enough to have done any of this on her own, and if she didn't think it was inappropriate for a soldier in the US Armed forces to be photographed doing something so undignified, guess her moral compass is haywire. Apparently she suffered nary a twinge...

Show me where it says only good people die in war?

Must be the genes...or jeans as the case may be. My kid's facing $1300 in auto insurance, hence the job, which she happens to love. By the way my husband's son has a different last name too, which didn't seem to affect his serving his country for a year in Baghdad and now as a "Statie" in TX. My brother in law has kids with three different last names, he served two hitches in the Marines, has a good job and those are some good kids although sometimes all the names confuse people. I guess that perhaps one just needs to look a little past the surface in making judgements. Or perhaps come right out and says what one is thinking, which I suppose in the original complainer's case was that the woman has X kids by X men so she's a sleaze and erego poor mother. Was that so hard to say? Had he had the guts to say it, I'd have agreed she's got problems, and throw in the fact there there may be ONE bad mother but probably also a BUNCH of bad fathers.

No, it's actually the ignorance and bigotry that gets my goat. Jumping to a conclusion and condemning people based on their last name is not very different than jumping to the same conclusion based on skin color or any other characteristic. Suppose someone has 5 foster kids? They all have different last names? Hmmmm? Oh shoot, why bother to find out, just jump to conclusions and make judgements. YOU are perfect after all, and others must meet your exactling high standards. I have no qualms about my parenting skills. I'm not perfect but I'll put my sweet-natured, National Honor Society, Girl Scout, Community-Service-Award winning and first chair voilin kid up against any kid, any day. And I almost forgot, she's 16 and makes $9 an hour teaching small children swimming and lifeguarding - has even saved a kid from drowning (she didn't ask if the kid had the same last name as the parent first, thank goodness). Her room is a pigsty though. Must be because her last name is different, trash tells eh?

Your point being? That all women who have kids with different last names are poor parents, or that the kids are burnt-out dopers simply because they have different last names from their mothers? That's like saying everyone who lives in Alaska is there because they can't cut it in normal, civilized society. One does not necessarily lead to the other and jumping to the conclusion would be an ignorant, bigoted thing to do, right?

My kid has a different last name from me. And that means precisely WHAT, pray tell?

Didn't see it. The bliss of living on the West Coast is that by the time I get home from work it's all over but the crying.

Yes it is disgusting but GREAT to be able to do something about it. When I first started to donate there were only scores of requests, now they number in the thousands. I can't tell you how much we enjoy making these donations. Whenever I feel blue I go there and I always find something that makes me smile to finance. A year ago I'd buy something for myself but this is WAY more fun, and sugar-free!

OK, I give, who was it? What we need is a good riot on the House floor, like the Japanese parliament...

I love Donors Choose. This charity allows teachers to go online and request funding for projects that are otherwise unfunded. Donors can go online and choose to donate money to help fund the project in part, or all. If the project never gets fully funded, there's an option to roll the donation over to another project, or not to make it at all. Best of all the "handling cost" (what little goes to the charity itself) is clearly stated. There are a wide range of projects from which to choose, and a growing number of regions represented (it started I believe just focused on New York City schools). My husband and I have purchased guitars for a rural school in NC, a puppet for a class of special needs kids, and a viola for a k-2 music program in the Bronx. The letters and photos from the kids after the fact are just wonderful and best of all, unlike taxes, you KNOW the money is going exactly where you want it. Anyway I know a lot of folks here want to do the right thing for the future of our country but are frustrated that the government spends foolishly or that their donation may not go where it's intended - this may not be perfect but it's a far sight better than anything else I've found. Try it, you'll like it!

You think the jurors didn't already know Jacko is wacko?

Yes I agree Gore is wrong to home in on that minority of Republicans who want to stifle dissent and disagreement with their platform. But then they can't all be as tolerant and willing to embrace others' opinions as, say, you, for example.

That's really weird. I thought that up north swimming pools, inground or not, were detrimental to housing values? You can barely use them but the maintenance is year-round...?

uh huh, yeah that's it, Ann Richards. Unfortunately she lives most of the time in New York City....

My five-year old daughter punched my husband in the face one day as he leaned across her to buckle her seatbelt. He hit her back. On the other hand, my six-year old autistic son would throw "tantrums" ... he didn't get hit. My avatar is actually a photo taken from a BBQ in West Texas, thanks for asking.

It sounds like the child has severe mental problems. Childhood schizophrenia is not unknown. As the mother of an austic child - and those kids can throw some violent tantrums - I still think there are other ways this could have been handled. Let's just hope this is the straw that gets this kid some help, and if that help is removal from her current home then so be it. That kind of rage is not natural in a child that small. You only really see it on PPP. :-)

Dean confused Rush with Bush. I don't know which one should be more insulted.

That is truly disgusting - I am going to request the Moderator delete the post. Yuck. Thanks for the nightmare I'm about to have.

I visited my old hometown (TX) website last week and checked out the sex offenders - one of my former neighbors was one and I was idly curious to see if he was still in circulation. What got me as I reviewed it was how many of those guys SERVED NO TIME for molestation! The web site lists their crime, their victim's age and sex, and sentence / time served. More than half served ZERO time - were on probation. Something's wrong with that.

I didn't see the video. I saw a still photo of two cops (not three, one was holding her down) handcuffing a 5-year old and read several articles, all of which said the girl had been acting badly, had torn stuff off the walls and kicked the assistant principal. Then once she settled down, the cops grabbed her and cuffed her. Appropriate for a 15, 25,35, etc year-old person but 5? FIVE?! "Ann Burke, MD, a pediatrician at The Children's Medical Center of Dayton: The average weight of a four-year-old girl is 35 pounds and the average weight (50%ILE) for a five-year-old girl is 39 pounds. " source 39 pounds? Three cops? Handcuffs? Handcuffs? For a 5-year old? Edward Scissorhands maybe? Puhlease. If she was brandishing a weapon, or threatening to gouge out her eyes or something, sure it would be important to restrain her. I wonder that the cuffs even fit her.