grateful

you can call me queen bee http://youtu.be/pVB6np4qwG0

absolutely acknowledge corporate welfare and its far reaching effects and expense. duly noted, it's far more distressing. I want nothing but good things for people receiving much needed assistance - decline, I understand what you are saying. I was driving my (dying) mother and parked with a placard in a handicapped spot. we looked quite able bodied (she was having a great day) but she was dying of a brain tumor, there was no dropping her off and parking the car, you know? we got some nasty looks and comments. haters gonna hate. chuculain, I know many fine people in your situation, it's really tough right now..

I don't think anyone is "denouncing the poor". blanket statements never work, for the rich or the poor. it looks like people are denouncing those who take advantage of a broken system that provides for the needy when they are not in fact all that needy.

lordie, I was thinking about what you said initially, that iphones aren't expensive.. not looking for an argument (at all) and I don't mean to put you on the spot but iphones are expensive. not just the phones but the plans you need to carry. we paid a few hundred dollars each (for three phones) and pay over $150.00 a month for unlimited service. the initial bill/payment was near a thousand dollars, maybe eight hundred. we used upgrades.. so from that perspective, maybe they feel that if someone can afford an iphone, they can afford to assume that much financial responsibility for themselves.

beautiful

I know what you mean lordie. it's kind of horrendous the vitriol that comes up around people receiving benefits like welfare or food stamps. and you are right, you don't know someone until you have walked in their shoes. I think most of those people commenting so negatively would be hard pressed to say that they would not want to provide for the elderly, the sick, little ones, the incapacitated but they tend to lump everyone who receives benefits into one group - lazy and undeserving, looking for a handout. it's easy to generalize, isn't it? let's face it though, there are plenty of people who are capable of working who do not and who collect benefits instead. I know some otherwise lovely people through my work that are third generation welfare recipients. housing, medical care, food, for three generations while I (and my family) have had to pay dearly for these things over the years. that doesn't sound fair, does it? it actually kind of pisses me off and leads me to question where my tax dollars go and why programs in place do not work. I want people who need help to be helped but I think it's time to break the cycle and mindset of poverty. the institutionalization of poverty is a money maker for everyone but the people who need a way out. people who struggle and work hard simply resent those who do not, and they don't particularly feel that they should foot the bill for someone else's life and choices. the problem is that those who cannot get their financial lives together for whatever reason are lumped in together with those people who won't get their financial lives in order, for whatever reason. my husband and I work really hard.

I think men and women can both bring much to the pulpit as it were. I am terribly suspicious of religions that do not include women in worship or in positions of leadership and don't quite understand why a woman would want to be part of them...

I'm sorry for your troubles raincloud but happy that you have found your way to something that brings you peace

good for you, I hope you find everything you need there if you feel like discussing, I see you say that spirit led you back. that's nice. was it gradual, like a lightning bolt or something else? sometimes I've had those eureka! moments , just wondering if it was like that.

you are not a hypocrite patty, you are a theist

..all this great advice ..

best.advice.ever.

thank you lannah I was lucky enough to have a sister-in-law as dear to me as my own sisters. we miss her terribly but take solace in the fact that her pain is gone, only ours remains .. and the legacy she leaves of love and strength, humor and kindness will be enough to sustain us

for my brave and wonderful friend. the only thing she didn't have enough of was time.. http://youtu.be/MzpShIhvrjU

you are so right, sigh. I try not to use disposable at all. if I have a party, it's usually small and I usually use the good china linen napkins are just fine. was also really disappointed in the mess that was the 4/20 party in the city. for god's sake, just pick up your own trash and call it a day! my sister handed me her purse the other day in the car and said, can you look in my trash can for my sunglasses?

apparently, yesterday was earth day, I thought it was sunday (I also thought it was my anniversary!)

thank you

it's Earth Day, have a lovely one

peaceful travels to the next place freida, I love you

sending you and your wife love and blessings scotty

congratulations revmitch, its quite an honor there are many here with far more experience than me. I have only performed one wedding but I can tell you that preparation and joy in the preparation will take you farther than you might imagine. practice, practice, practice till the words come so naturally that you are even free to improvise if you have any specific questions, you'll get some great feedback here. where is ginger girl, among others?

thanks for that link musicman, I look forward to it (shaggy, there would be no harm in a little self promotion ) are there any fans of sun magazine out there? come on, it screams the sun, or harpers or a hipper new yorker. shaggy, I read, and this is good. thank you for sharing it with all of us here

okay. couldn't tell from his/her screen name . and if there was mention, I missed it.. so good! I wonder if it can still be submitted to the sun, shaggy?

let me know when you do

me too