I've noticed a number of banners online for the "make poverty history" campaign. For those of you who may have been living in a cave, this is a multimillion dollar campaign featuring the likes of Cameron Diaz, Bono, and P. Diddy to urge people to support a campaign whose primary goals are third world debt retirement and more and better foreign aid. I am all for their aims. Seriously, I am. But I take SERIOUS issue with their methods (as stated in a previous, ignored blog). To that en...

I don't think this has ever happened before in my LIFE. There are FOUR movies either released or soon to be released, that are on my "must see list". They are (in no particular order): Star Wars Ep. 3 (True, the other two were train wrecks, but I have to see this through to the end. Plus...how bad could it be with Vader showing up? The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Though this could miss, the special effects look great. I'm just afraid they'll be too serious with it and miss Doug Ad...

One thing I am sick of seeing in blog after blog, is the reference to either liberals or conservatives as "crazy". The LLL label is the most prominent example of this, but apologists for both sides have been rather generous in their appraisal of the mental condition of their opponents. Among those I would classify as passionate liberals, conservatives, or centrists, I have found a common thread: ALL are trying as best they can, from their own perspectives and life philosophies, to improve the...

I was a junior in high school, and came from the "wrong side of the tracks". Though I was the exception (not a druggie, not a dropout), I routinely used the coarse vulgarities of my peers. As we were having a discussion backstage at the community theater one day, one of my fellow castmates (about twice my age) suggested I clean up my vocabulary. But she didn't do it to be condescending. She did it because she knew that I was smarter than that, and had the rare ability to outperform most of...

OK, this blog pissed me off! While surfing member blogs on blogexplosion, I came across the following: I got my new Child Benefit order through today. For anyone outside the UK, that's a paltry sum the government gives all parents/carers toward the upkeep of a child/children. Currently it stands at £17 a week. Wouldn't even buy half a pair of shoes (or as some would say, one shoe). Ah but... I am also a sad, lonely, unmarriable woman so I get lone parent benefit on top. Wow! Th...

A couple of recent blogs prompted this one. The blogs centered around the frustration of parents in dealing with their children, and, in one case, the accusation that Terri Schiavo (referred in the past by that poster as "that bitch!") was entirely responsible for her own death. The thing that struck me as a common thread in all of those blogs is that they don't understand the impact of a good, honest friendship. They also had limited understanding of what it i like to deal with chronic menta...

Well, here's an early candidate for my "meathead of the month" award. The NBA is attempting to impose a minimum age for players in the league. Jermaine O'Neal, at least, has branded the NBA's attempt to be "economic racism". HOW'S THAT? The NBA is a league composed predominantly of African Americans, and the endorsement deals fall disproportionately to African American athletes. These are pretty clear and obvious facts. If anything, the current trend of pulling players straight from the...

I blogged earlier on the fact that we choose not to have our children vaccinated. While I acknowledge that vaccinations are not wholly without merit, I feel that we have become far too dependent on them. As one who has worked in the health related field, and as one with small children, I have been repeatedly urged to be vaccinated against the flu, and have the same done for my children. Now, it seems that strains of a deadly flu virus were sent to over 5,000 labs worldwide, most of them withi...

This is probably my first "gloat blog". In the aftermath of the December 26th Tsunami, I spoke out against the US providing aid. I was blasted with every name in the book for my position that the aid should be privately funded. I, of course, wrote several followup articles defending my position. And the kicker is, I was RIGHT!!! Now, I'll admit, many of my political positions are subjective, and as debatable as any position held by the "big two" or the Greens. But this case was a litt...

We've all seen them. The "Make Poverty History" TV ads featuring celebrities snapping their fingers. The tag line, though, comes at the end where they say "we're not asking for your money". Oh, really? I am VERY interested in ways of reducing poverty, so I checked out the link. Apparently, they ARE asking for our money. Remember, ladies and gents, tax money from the government does not come from a magic djinni. It comes from OUR pockets. Yours and mine. What are they asking for? "Dro...

America is in a crisis. I think that's one talking point that, conservative, liberal, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Green, we can all agree on. Where we get stuck is on how to fix it. WHY we get stuck, is another matter entirely. If you came up to me and told me your debt was spiralling out of control, my advice would center around either getting another job or cutting your expenses. My advice for the government is no different. The skyrocketing national debt is NOT solely the f...

Now there is a gift only our tolerant, constitution upholding lefties can appreciate.

In a recent article, it was mentioned that, to most of the far left on this site, NOTHING our president does will be acceptable. Don't get me wrong; I have many, MANY problems with the policies of George W. Bush and the GOP. In fact, I agree with more than half of the points made, if not the attitude itself, of many of the most liberal bloggers on this site. What confounds me, whough, is how they have been seduced by the Democrats into believing that the Dems are in any way a "party of th...

So, of course, much of the recent talk, given skyrocketing gas prices, has centered on hybrids and electric vehicles. Hybrids, sadly, are a far off dream to many of us. The American working class is largely ill equipped to afford the switch to the more environmentally and economically sane vehicles. In an ironic development, the poor in this country not only bear the brunt of the burden for the rising gas prices, as they are prone to drive older, less fuel efficient vehicles, but they also ar...

Whenever someone on JU makes a statement criticizing our president, they're accused of sedition and anti-American sentiments. It's odd how mindsets change. Consider: Following the 1994 Republican "revolution" and "Contract with America", The Republicans DEMANDED of Clinton a balanced budget. They effectively went on strike (ironic, given the traditional GOP stance against public sector employees striking...but I digress), and gained serious publicity for their steadfast insistence on such ...