In times like these, as I cash in my coins and gather up my aluminum cans to take to the recycler, I am tempted to fantasize about a life without struggles, where every need is met and I don't have to worry about the next day. But those fantasies are short lived, as I think about everything that a life filled with struggles gives me. Adversity may seem undesirable, but it is inevitable. From birth, as a woman and child deal with powerful adversity to allow the child to be born, to death, when...

I've heard all the stories on Ann Coulter's latest, and I've processed my opinions on the matter. As has been repeatedly pointed out, EVERYTHING Ms. Coulter has said has been absolutely, 100% accurate regarding the way we treat the families of victims of horrible acts. If they climb into the political arena by choice, they're fair game. They should have known what they were getting into. The problem most people seem to have with Ms. Coulter was the way she chose to drive home her point. Terms...

First and foremost, I must say that I am relieved Zarqawi is dead. His death stands to throw the terrorist organization into chaos at least briefly, and may help us to catch terrorists. But morally I cannot celebrate it. It's not even tied to my opposition to the death penalty. You will get no question from me that our government has the legal, and, indeed, moral authority to execute this slime. The murders and terror he committed are not in dispute, and his punishment was just and swift. ...

One of the things I love most about blogging is that it is a forum where you will get feedback from your readers, regularly. Sometimes more than you'd like. In nearly two years of blogging, I believe I have improved myself as a writer, through what I have written and through what I have read. While readers may take issue with my politics, they rarely take issue with my writing. And so, in the interest of helping other bloggers as I've been helped, I'd like to share some of the most important tip...

One of the most telling things about the misguided nature of CPS and its investigators and their attacks on families is found in the "stock" questions they ask children in the course of their investigation. They will ask children if they are afraid of anyone. The question will, of course, vary, as there is the very distinct possibility that little Johnny acted up on the way to the interview and knows that discipline will await him once he returns home. A child's indication of fear is not nece...

Today, June 6, 2006, is the 62nd anniversary of what has been dubbed "the Longest Day". After years of fighting in World War II, the Allies mounted one of the most well coordinated and largest offensives ever to establish beachheads in France to move inward and destroy the Third Reich. The Allied victory didn't come without cost, though. 1465 US soldiers died, 3184 were left wounded, with 1928 missing and 26 captured. The entire Allied forces suffered around 10000 casualties in that single da...

Ever have one of those days where you're in such a bad mood, you have to step back and say "wow! I am in a monumentally shitty mood!" and do everything you can to remove yourself from people? As an individual who wrestles with occasionally intense socially anxiety disorder, I have them from time to time, and yesterday was one of those times. It kind of started kicking in on Sunday when my back flared up again. My back problems aren't with the lower back, as every armchair physician suggests w...

This just in, from "K-WTF?": Link Apparently a man decided to lower himself into a lion's den to prove that God doesn't exist. He shouted that God would save him if God exists, and lowered himself into the den. The lions, apparently, didn't read the memo, and had their own name for the man: dinner. I've always hated displays like this. Displays that assume that a stupid, irrational action on someone's part should or would invoke God's mercy towards that person's stupidity. Now, su...

The last three years of my life have been ones of serious introspection. Because of my dysfunctional childhood, I spent the better part of my first fifteen years of adulthood believing it to be my "responsibility" to reconcile with my family, and to create a bonded, cohesive family unit that would give my kids something I always longed for but never have. I believed a lot of psychological mumbo jumbo until I realized that I was pursuing toxic relationships that were destroying me physically, emo...

I hate the sensationalism that pervades our journalism. More to the point, I hate the way statistics are misused to generate funds for various programs, or to push for reforms, especially in education. Take the headline of this article. While it has never appeared in print (to my knowledge), similarly sensationalist headlines have (such as a state's average spending on education compared to the other 49), and, in fact, No Child Left Behind was passed with the absurdly unreachable goal of brin...

I heard this idea tossed out on a radio call in show the other day, but, sadly, it wasn't pursued as much as it should be. With box office revenues declining in Hollywood, it seems that they could save their own skins by emplying a more common sense approach to the release of their movies. No matter how sophisticated our home entertainment systems get, there will always be an appeal to the theater because it gives us something to do, someplace to go to socialize. And while theaters are e...

As the proposal on how to handle our nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants continues, there's an interesting thought that keeps running through my head. As with so many political issues of this nature, the government is simply proposing a government sanctioned exploitation of those workers. You see, the government wants those immigrants on the tax rolls for one clear reason. As Social Security comes closer and closer to the point where the government can no longer ignore its impend...

NOTE: The title question is rhetorical. I don't need you to answer it (though I do appreciate your input). One of the questions I have to ask myself from time to time is whether I am too reckless in pursuit of the things that are important to me. I mean, I do want to defend what I feel is right, and without apology, but sometimes I have to wonder, at what cost? While I don't want to alienate myself from people I feel are important, I also never want to be a milquetoast, catering to chang...

In the wake of the William Jefferson scandal, Nancy Pelosi has led the charge against the way the FBI executed a search warrant on Congressman Jefferson's office. And the problems she has with the investigation are quite legitimate problems. She is correct in demanding that Jefferson's rights as a citizen be preserved in the investigation. Now if we can just get her to extend the same rights to American citizens, we'd be fine. She and many others in Congress have been quite reluctant to allow...

Pardon the belated nature of this, but it is an appropriate foreword to my next thread: We're a movin' on up, (We're a movin on up.) To the east side. (Mo-vin on up.) To a de-luxe apartment, In the sky-. Mo-vin' on up (Mo-vin on up.) To the east side, (Mo-vin on up.) We finally got a big fat bribe Put that cash in the kitchen I'll cast my vote for your bill It just takes a couple Banjamins to get my vote on the hill Now we're up in the big leagues, Get...