Recent Comments:
Beau Biden 'Absolutely' Mulling Senate Run to Fill Dad's Seat {Politics Daily}
Oct 15th 2009 5:05PM I couldn't agree more. I wish we'd had a law like that 10 years ago. We would have been spared 8 years of George Bush.
Max Cleland: 'I Cried Uncontrollably for 2 1/2 Years' {Politics Daily}
Oct 6th 2009 6:39PM Pres.Obama is too young to have served in Vietnam. It's clear that you don't like Pres. Obama, but what does your opinion of him have to do with service in Vietnam?
Max Cleland: 'I Cried Uncontrollably for 2 1/2 Years' {Politics Daily}
Oct 6th 2009 6:31PM If Bush did so much to help the men and women of the armed forces who risk their lives for our country, why did he send them to war in Iraq without property armored vehicles and enough body armor? Why did the standards of the VA Hospitals decline during his administration? Why did he make cuts in Veterans’ benefits?
It’s easy to question the patriotism and service of other’s when one’s patriotism is limited to complaining about “liberals” and ones service is nonexistent. It is easy to send others to fight when one has never risked one’s life. It is easy to send the children of others to war when one’s children are safe at home.
Bush, Chaney, Chambliss and others who supported the war in Vietnam but sat it out at home are cowards. They dodged the draft. Cleland, Kerry and McCain served. John McCain’s politics are the opposite of Cleland’s and Kerry’s yet he has never questioned the patriotism of either of these men. Who is a better judge of heroism under fire, John McCain who served his country or Dick Chaney who dodged the draft? Partisan politics have no place in the discussion of service to country. Too bad those of you who voted for Sen. John McCain haven’t learned from him.
Book About Gay Penguins Is Most Banned of the Year {Asylum}
Oct 4th 2009 11:12PM Wow, either the person who responded to my post is a wayward child or a parent with wild children. I am so far from perfect... My children are three siblings who were placed in the foster care system because their mother was an abusive drug addict. They were troubled children when they came to live with me and it's taken a ton of love, a ton of mistakes and a ton of therapy to get where we are today. Part of loving children is giving them boundaries and teaching them self respect. I also teach my children to question and to use their judgment before they make decisions. For the first 8, 9, and12 years of my childrens lives, they were surrounded by adults who were horrible role models and made horrible choices. My children have worked hard to reject the model of their early childhood and replace it with a healthy model. They deserve most of the credit for how far they've come.
That being said, I repeat, it is a parents duty to monitor a childs behavior. Banning books that I want my children to have access to because your kids disobey you is not the solution. Besides, exposure to opposing viewpoints and controversy + family discussion = an opportunity to reinforce family values.
Book About Gay Penguins Is Most Banned of the Year {Asylum}
Oct 4th 2009 8:57PM The real question is, Are the children of fundamentalist Christian parents so disobedient that the only way to keep them from reading something their parents don't want them to read is to ban it?" I am not Christian, not fundamentalist, "liberal" and a single mother of three adopted children who were all adopted when they were older. Guess what- my kids don't drink, don't smoke, don't drug, do volunteer work with the homeless (to remind them that there is always someone who has a harder life) and are excellent University bound students. They are not allowed to view internet porn, play violent computer games or read materials that marginalize others unless education/discussion is involved (example- Mein Kampf). Control your children people. Don't ban books that the rest of us approve of because your children are disobedient!
Best paid CEOs take home millions, despite market decline {Daily Finance}
Apr 7th 2009 3:27PM For those who blame Congress:
Risky residential loans are not the sole cause of the banking debacle. Credit default swaps and other risky financial instruments as well as bad commercial loans have played a large part in the economic crisis.
Here is San Francisco, one Billionaire apartment building owner just deeded to USB, 51 building, in lieu of foreclosure. 51 bad, multi-million dollar loans, made to one developer in one city. Multiply by many developers in many cities and the losses are huge. These loans were not made because of the Community Reinvestment Act.
Blaming the democrats in congress for the economic crisis is a very simplistic approach to a complex problem. Your attitude is either born of ignorance of the depth and complexity of the financial crisis or is thinly veiled racism.
Best paid CEOs take home millions, despite market decline {Daily Finance}
Apr 7th 2009 3:25PM For P McBride and others who blame Congress:
Risky residential loans are not the sole cause of the banking debacle. Credit default swaps and other risky financial instruments as well as bad commercial loans have played a large part in the economic crisis.
Here is San Francisco, one Billionaire apartment building owner just deeded to USB, 51 building, in lieu of foreclosure. 51 bad, multi-million dollar loans, made to one developer in one city. Multiply by many developers in many cities and the losses are huge. These loans were not made because of the Community Reinvestment Act.
Blaming the democrats in congress for the economic crisis is a very simplistic approach to a complex problem. Your attitude is either born of ignorance of the depth and complexity of the financial crisis or is thinly veiled racism.
Wife of Washington Lobbyist Uses Money as Wrapping Paper {Luxist}
Sep 9th 2008 2:45PM Edwina and Ed Rogers are Republican lobbyists. Their 18, 000 square foot mansion is called "The Republican Shangri-La". Using money as wrapping paper when ordinary working people are struggling to pay mortgages and other bills, when financial aid for poor students is being cut, when blue collar jobs are being sent over seas is very contemptuous of the average working American.
Yet, Obama may lose because these same average working Americans are more afraid of people of color, of gay rights, of women’s reproductive choice and of immigrants than they are of losing everything they have worked so hard for. They fail to see the true threat to their well being, the absolute corruption and greed of corporate America and the ultra wealthy who control it.
Airline Passengers Breathe a Sigh of Relief: Cell Phones Still not Allowed in Planes {Gadling}
Oct 20th 2007 2:19AM I fly about 150,000 miles a year. I am very much against cell phone usage on airplanes. If I am in a cafe or sitting on a park bench and the individual next to me is having an inappropriately loud or highly personal conversation, I can move out of range. I can’t move away during a full flight. I do, however, believe that internet usage should be allowed. I often do work on my computer during flights and I don’t see that “surfing the web” is anymore bothersome than writing a letter.
I have also noticed that the people who complain the most about restrictions on cell phone usage and are the most likely to use their phones inappropriately; theatres, quiet restaurants, museums etc are the people who have the least legitimate reasons and the least need to use their phones in public settings. Last time I was at the theatre, on Broadway, live performance, the young woman in front of me not only had her phone on, she answered it during the performance. I told her that unless she was a world famous transplant surgeon and she was receiving notice of an organ suddenly available for a dying patient, she was not important enough to have her phone on. Neither are business people making multi million dollar deals, kids talking about last night’s party or couples having a lovers quarrel. I am involved in multi million dollar transactions on a regular basis. Believe me; the world will not end if I and others like me are unable to use our cell phones on airplanes.
The debate never has been and never will be over keeping cell phones out of the cabin. People have always been and still are allowed to take their phones with them on a flight. Also, when airplanes are waiting at the gate, delayed and sitting on the tarmac or taxing TO the gate after landing, cell phone usage is allowed. The only issue being debated is whether or not to allow passengers to use their cell phones during a flight, while the plane is in the air.
Lastly, my life is far from boring. My work and vacations have taken me to 63 countries and every continent. I have climbed the Andes, walked on icebergs in Antarctica, ridden elephants in the jungles of South East Asia, slept in a tent on the Serengeti, and eaten at the best restaurants in Paris. I have met the most incredible people all over the world. I have scuba dived, hot air ballooned; white water rafted, sailed and biked in dozens of counties. I cared for both of my parents while they were elderly and was with them when they died. I worked and traveled while on chemotherapy for 18 months for breast cancer, all without using my cell phone on a plane.
