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Me? I've never owned a pair.

I also lived in a trailer at one point.

Right now there's an SUV in my drive... albeit only because they can't get the gas mileage down enough to make the Pacifica a wagon..

There's deer meat in my freezer.

Bobby Labonte is HOT...

This morning my son scored a goal with me on the sidelines. (before the game I told him it was "score one for Mama day"...


AND, at this moment...there is an envelope with a donation to DFA on my table.

Even in fun, stereotypes are ridiculous, and often wrong... IMO

There is no litmus test, set of "rules" or by laws for me to follow.

I don't think about what the "proper stance" would be before voicing my opinion on something.

I try not (and sometimes I fall short) of calling others DINO's, DLCers etc...

My best friend on earth is an atheist (yeah, I know, you've all heard this from me before) and we disagree on many many things...and then silently agree not to bring "that issue" up again.

There are people on DU that I respect and admire...and some I adore. And we have wildly different viewpoints. There are people on DU that I have put on ignore; that never lasts long. I am too curious.

I thought Howard Dean would have made a fine president. You, perhaps, did not. That did not make me any more progressive than you.

Stephen Colbert did a fine job...or he didn't. I tend to be in the did (the really, REALLY did) camp, but I won't send an alert asking for your immediate banning. Although I may have wanted to.

I moderated for a while in 2003 and it was very hard to remain unbiased, but I tried my best. Moderating GD can suck on a good day.

I am guilty of spending too much money on gas, eating meat, being a NASCAR Mom, riding the center on immigration (I don't know the right answers), and owning a bunch of historic WWII rifles (okay, they are MrG's but, god forbid we divorce, I get half).

I thought about this a lot last night and this morning while thinking of the events of the past few days/weeks/months/years here.

It comes down to this for me:



What our country is doing is wrong...and I am not doing enough to stop it. I am tucking my 7 year old into bed, while mothers and fathers just like me are wiping sand off the bloodied faces of theirs...and they didn't ask for us to "help". I don't cry nearly enough over that...and I cry a lot. Because what we have become as a country is wrong, how we treat our neighbors and fellow citizens is wrong. That something is broken and needs to be fixed. I don't know the perfect way to fix it, but I'm willing to listen, and fight and hash things out to find a better solution.

Because DU hasn't changed much...but lots of "us" have along the way.

Have a good day DU. Thanks for being here every morning when we wake up...and giving us a venting place. No matter how much we claim you are different, more troll-y, less progressive, more DLC, less moderated, more moderated, biased or flaming...we always come back. Even when we say we won't.

Not, "not guilty", for you are just as guilty as the meth addicts you used to sneer so openly about on your show. Just as guilty as Robert Downey Jr. Victim of the same shakes, nausea and pain...guilty of the same Weakness. Yes, Rush...You... You are just as fallible as the rest of us, and, each time you are made to pee in a cup while somebody watches, so you don't cheat (because everyone knows addicts can't be trusted) I want you to think of every Tom, Dick, Jane and Susie you've ever looked down upon. You're in their shoes now.

You know the difference between you and Robert Downey? I do. He's a success. He fought his demon and won (so far). You will never win...you will never recover. Any addict knows the first step to recovery is admitting one has a problem. You can't even do that. What a Failure.

stones. They always have. Ever since I signed on. Perhaps other people have a better way of framing the debate. Perhaps some think of me as a Lounge Lizard (even my best friend on earth is guilty of that) who can add nothing of substance to the GD's. Oh well I say. The two or three who read and respond...or perhaps view something differently, or not, are worth it. It's not the quantity but the quality.

She's like really sensitive...and it's really hard for her to wake up in the morning...

Oh, and she's like...really a Drama Queen...so...yeah...I hope you got it.

***For background: This woman is relatively a decent person except for her penchant of sending un snopes'd (think Ollie North warned us about Osama), pro Iraq War/George Bush sentiments with little or no backup...pray for our soldiers, propaganda...She is a member of a Nazarene faithful...when it fits her agenda. She drinks, just doesn't tell them. She puts up with her pastor calling her twice a week to tell her what's wrong with her life, including encouraging her to not pay me for appraisal work done because I am not "saved"...Crazy, eh? I used to just delete the messages unread. Today, I got to thinking that so many are uneducated and uninformed because of the lack of negative response to these falsely patriotic missives. I will not post the email. Suffice to say it was an essay by a Ret. Airforce something or other by the name of somebody Chong, connecting our pre emptive/pre meditated strike on Iraq with...yep, you guessed it--Terra, Terra, Terra!!! And saying that, because Terra had happened under the eyes of Reagan on up, it wasn't a Dem/Repub thing. Yes, the latest, we are all in this fight against the big bad boogeyman together. Anyway, here is my response... a response which will no doubt end our "over the fence" chats and totally cut off any chance of her paying me the $2,000+ she owes me:

XXXXX,

I know you mean well but
Unfortunately this war wasn't presented as a war on terror until it was found that Saddam Hussein, while a very bad man, had no Weapons of Mass Destruction. The ties that have been made between Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden are false:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...

"
The Iraq Connection
Al Qaeda-Hussein Link Is Dismissed "

What saddens me most is so many people would believe this, but Iraq had no connection with any of the terrorism attacks listed in the Chong Essay. There simply aren't any...and yet, as a mom, I think of how many innocent Iraqi children, how many soldiers...have lost their lives because of a lie put forth by a money hungry, soul less administration.

George W. Bush, by merely saying he is a Christian, is not a Christian. Going to church does not make one Christ like. He has used the label to spin the truth. He would gladly send our children to war, he doesn't attend the funerals of those who sacrifice...he cuts the benefits of veterans. 50 soldiers dead, just this month alone. My uncle, a ret. Colonel in the USAF, is sickened by this unjust war...for you cannot ever win a war against emotion (terrorism).

False patriotism, yellow magnets, flags and labeling those with credible and reasonable questions as traitors is getting us nowhere. The people of Iraq did not become "terrorists", "insurgents" or whatever the latest label we have given them, until we pre emptively, without cause, attacked their nation. I ask this...would we not retaliate if the same had been wrought upon us?

I am sickened at how many have fallen for this one man and his "corporation's" (for that is what this administration is) lies.

I ask everyone to read, think about and understand the facts of what we have done to an innocent nation, because of one man's grudge and greed.


****For the first time in a long time, I feel better.

and I am not. How about you? What should YOU be doing right now, instead of hanging out with your computer?

First on the list for me is Spring Cleaning...if we ever want to put our house on the market.

long with my dad, my grandpa, cousins, aunts...you name it. We had a blast. Back then, you could get decent seats for cheap and the biggest ego on the Brewers' roster was basically mild mannered Stormin' Gorman Thomas. My first crush was on Sixto Lezcano...Molly was called the "Ignitor" and Robin was just starting out...

...and then they went out and wrecked it...

the seats became impossible to afford. We moved to the Bleachers for awhile, but that was no place for children...then we watched on T.V....

...and then egos got HUGER than any of the plays made...

...money demanded...

...a strike was afoot...I was gone.

Until...

....until the replacement players took the field, and they were *gasp* smiling, happy to be there...enjoying the sport again. Man those Spring Training games were fun.

Then the "big boys" made a deal and came back...only I wasn't watching them anymore. Neither was anybody else. Quick, they thought...we must think of something, anything to bring the lemmings back.

And so, a "homerun race" was conceived. Only I didn't watch. But a lot of others did. And were duped again. And the egos again ruled the field. Not for me this sport anymore. I miss the game, but not that much.

But, luckily there's room on this earth for football lovers and baseball lovers alike.

Interesting that seawolf brought up the ethics question. Yesterday my son and I were at Kroger. I decided to use the U-scan express (anyone else think our groceries should automatically be reduced 10% because we ring them ourselves?). As I was scanning our items, my son said,"Mom, there's money in the 'thing'." The "thing" being the change return. I looked down and sure enough, there was a dollar bill in the change return. My son picked it up and said,"Can I go and give it to the cashier?" He gave it to the cashier and she looked at him like he was brain damaged. "Why did he give this to me?" "Because it's not his." "Who cares?" "Quite possibly the person who left it.


Reason for this story? It never occurred to my son to question the finances of the person who left it and whether they would miss it or not. He returned it because it wasn't his. Finding it didn't make it any more his.

I will say I find it rather disturbing that people would question the honesty of the answers in seawolf's thread. I would be willing to wager, throughout humankind, more people would return something of monetary value if found than would keep it. Call me naive.


And...thanks seawolf, for getting my mind of immigration for awhile.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...

snip-

Two more dead dogs were discovered in eastern Washtenaw County Sunday, bringing the total to seven in 10 days, and sending a scare through the region.

Hunters discovered a cocker spaniel shot in the back of the head around 10 a.m. in Superior Township Sunday morning. Humane Society investigators responded and found a second dead dog, a pit bull puppy, whose neck and legs were bound with twine.

The Humane Society has been the lead investigator in the killings and the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office will assign a detective today to assist with the case.

The dogs were not decapitated like other dogs found recently in the same area, said Tanya Hilgendorf, executive director of the Humane Society of Huron Valley.

-snip

This is disgusting. Even though I live a good bit away, I went outside with Jessie this morning on her early business romp. Hanging is too good for these idiots.

not the ones caught by this witch hunt. I say this, as does my husband, as the daughter in law and son of an alcoholic who later took his own life. Many a time he drove when he shouldn't have...and got away with it. Twice, we called the cops...He STILL got away with it. Meanwhile, my neighbor's wife was just brought in-an upstanding wife, mother, and middle school teach-who happened to go to a tupperware party. She'll probably pay the full price, while Mr. I have a ton of money and can get the best lawyers won't. This is where we need to aim our anger. I say this as one who doesn't drink at all...I see these DUI laws as making the wrong people pay. I am quite sure that if I drank cough syrup and got on the road I would be busted. One, our limit is low. Two, I haven't had a drink in about 10 years.

...

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/03/2...

snip-
AN elderly sick giant panda has been rescued by farmers in Baoxing County of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, local forestry authorities said yesterday.

The 15-year-old female panda is out of danger, but will need a long time to make a complete recovery, local panda experts said.

"After all, in human terms, she is like an old woman in her sixties," said the experts.

The sick panda was found at a construction site last Friday afternoon, and was sent to Fengtongzhai State Natural Reserve, a wild habitat for endangered species in Baoxing.

-snip


For all you panda people out there. I've been donating regularly to a couple of preserves ever since falling in love with panda cam. This is a great story.

my son asked me to, and I do like hanging out with him and seeing what he's up to in school. And, we're going to the Detroit Science Center...a place I've never been in the 20+ years I've been here, and there are only four kids for me to spend the day continuously counting the heads of for fear that one will disappear, and I've got laundry that I should be doing instead, and it's inside, not like last time when it was outside-in the 45 degree windy weather...with 6 kids to count. Do you catch my drift that I'm trying to make a hell of a batch of lemonade here. Think of me, with the four kids, in the science center, while you are all toasty warm in your robes...drinking coffee...and perusing DU.

left) live in a mobile home park. Several of the homes in their park are for sale for $20,000 all the way down to $1,000. Could these not be purchased by the government (think emminent domain..sort of) from the sellers and moved? I lived in an older mobile home and while several of them would probably not pass inspection for movement, many of them would. Mine was 20 years old, but MrG had reinforced it and it was a lovely 780 s.f. home. It's just a thought. They are standing there empty anyway and many of them are quite nice looking with siding and shingled roofs. It's just a thought.