Free Republic

People can be so brutal. It isn't enough to just kill a person? They have to hack them in pieces, too? What must their day to day lives be like that they treat each other worse than animals?

We don’t go to movies anymore either. We just wait till them come out on video and get them from Netflix. But back in the day when we were seeing movies at the theater I observed the same thing. Seemed like there was always someone bringing their toddler to a film that was not child-friendly. Do people not hire babysitters anymore? Actually a big part of the reason that we don’t go to films anymore is because we have toddlers now, plus there just aren’t that many films(if any) worth the high price of a movie ticket.

I thought Dan Rather's reputation was already in the toilet after his interview with the (Oh so honorable) Saddam Hussein.

Could it be that he's waited this long to make a fuss because he's hoping we'll all have forgotten about how stinky his reputation was before that?

This is the first time actually reading about her trip. I was hoping to hear that she WAS visiting troop. But she starts her trip visiting refugees in Syria of all places? Anyone know the answer to this: What are the odds that an Iraqi refugee living in Syria was a supporter of Saddam? When I think of Syria in relation to Iraq, I think of things like Saddam's Fedayeen.

BTW, I don't suppose she'll bother visiting the Palestinian refugees while she's there? I'd really like to hear of someone checking out the conditions of the Palestinians in countries other than Israel. You know, just for comparison.

Just wanted to add, I’ve been to some of Mother Theresa’s homes in India. No matter what her personal feelings -or lack of feelings- she did something pretty remarkable there. Old people and young orphans and cared for. Poor children are given an education. Her popularity got assured that donations came in regularly. You can’t discount the good that came from her.

I think this is an interesting revelation about Mother Theresa. I can sympathize with her feelings. I've felt similarly --and it's called depression. But why she felt it may have something to do with having incorrect expectations and following a very legalistic religious path. I think Catholism is prone to more mystical ideas. (Which is why you only see things like vampire stories associated with Catholism and not protestant religion.) I believe that ultimately she went the path that God intended for her, but the day to day motivations for going down that path may have to do with an expectation of some type of reward and sense of fulfillment.

I'm sure that the rewards were there, but perhaps not what she was expecting. I would not be surprised if some of her depression came after the age of 40. Women go through so much with menopause. I'm a little biased, because I am happily married and find this time of motherhood to be the most fulfilling. I don't think we should assume that Mother Theresa was ultimately different from any other woman who gives up family life for career (even if that career is as a world-renouned humanitarian), and becomes depressed when she gets older and realizes that she has not fulfilled her female drive to bear children.

BTW, even if all of this is interesting about Mother Theresa. It bothers me that this stuff is coming out against her wishes.

My thoughts, as well. This sort of environmentalism is more like a pagan cult. If it didn’t go hand in hand with socialism, I’d give it some consideration. But this fear that that we’re making the earth burn to a crisp is just a way to get people to make political decisions out of fear rather than think things through. It’s a bit like “if you don’t accept this doctrine without question, you’re going to go to hell.”

This is BS. I consider myself more creative and open to new things, rather than ordered, structured, and needing closure. But I also consider myself to be very conservative. I have an older brother who is really uptight and controlling, and he's a hard core Bay Area liberal. The portrayal of conservatives as being structured, etc, and liberals as being creative and more open-minded is nothing more than a pointless stereotype. I just went through some of my old journals, and to make a point here is some dialogue I recorded several years ago. I was invited to a "party" and didn't find out until I got to this place that it was really a tantric yoga workshop.

Person leading the workshop: "Feel the energy in your genitalia. Feel it rooting into the ground. Now step in, turn left, and massage the back of the person in front of you. You can ask the person behind you to massage your buttocks."

Man standing in front of me: "Can you massage my buttocks?"

Me: (laughing)"No."

Man: "Why not?"

Me: (politely) "I'm kind of new to this."

Man: (with air of superiority and aggitation) "So am I. But I like to try new things."

Me: "I like to try new things, too. But massaging your buttocks isn't one of those things."

I think you can get a bit of the core difference between liberal and conservative from this true story. Personally, I don't get the appeal of sitting in a room like that and being told what to do, and that anyone should expect me to rub their buttocks. I feel a little sorry for the liberals that get sucked into this. They do things that are so disrespectful to themselves, and call it being open-minded.

That's a wonderful story. My cousin recently adopted a baby from China. Her son did a ten minute documentary. It's very good, posted here on google video for anyone interested: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6765162226700286439&hl=en. So far as I know it's all be a very positive experience for them.

Good, I was going to post that link, and you beat me to it.

From snopes: http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/nogas.asp:
This year's e-mails (proposing a one-day "gas out" in May 2007) is yet another recasting of similar messages that have been circulating since 1999. All of them are reminders that "protest" schemes that don't cost the participants any inconvenience, hardship, or money remain the most popular, despite their ineffectiveness. A one-day "gas out" was proposed in 1999, and a three-day-long event was called for in 2000, but both drew little active participation and had no real effect on retail gasoline prices. The recycling of the same campaign in subsequent years hasn't drawn enough interest to even be considered newsworthy.

The premise behind all these messages is inherently flawed, because consumers' not buying gasoline on one particular day doesn't affect oil companies at all. The "gas out" scheme doesn't call upon people to use less gasoline, but simply to shift their date of purchase and buy gas a day earlier or later than they usually would The very same amount of gasoline is sold either way, so oil companies don't lose any money.

Although a gasoline boycott that began as an electronic mail campaign kept some drivers nationwide away from the pump, dealers say they saw little, if any, effect on their traffic.

In Seattle, there were so many cars waiting to get into [a] Texaco station ... yesterday afternoon that it caused a backup five cars deep into [the] right-hand lane.

Reports indicated few motorists paid attention to a nationwide boycott touted initially by Internet e-mail and later by word of mouth.

I haven’t read in depth on this “sicko” thing... but can someone tell me why he was taking this guy to Cuba? I didn’t understand that? Is Moore trying to promote Cuba’s healthcare system?

Thanks for sharing that website. What a trip! I especially like the prophecy link. Looks like God has given Copeland a special prophecy: "Thus saith the Lord]: I am rallying and raising up support to you. It will far surpass all you have previously seen or known. I'm joining to you new Partners who are very strong financially, and they will obey Me. I'm prospering your longtime Partners with supernatural increase and they will obey Me." It's facinating how his special prophecy mixes a bit of the King James English in with modern American syntax.

Actually, reading over that a second time, there is something a little creepy and manipulatively power hungry about the line: "I'm joining to you new partners who are very strong financially, and they will obey Me." I wonder who these financially strong people are who are obedient to Copeland -uh, I mean to God.

I heard Michael Savage yesterday, and he was also upset that he wasn't be put to death. Before the sentence was read, though, I thought death would be way too easy for the guy. He must know that American's make death as quick and painless as possible. In the long run, life in prison will probably be more physically and emotionally humbling than a quick, painless death.

I've always had a hard time seeing Clooney as a sex symbol. My first memory of him was as a regular on "Rosanne," playing the homely Jackie's sensitive boyfriend.

BTW, speaking of the oscars, did anyone else have a hard time first recognizing Jennifer Lopez? She always had a distict broad nose. I think her nose shrunk.

Okay, I can see the Rocky Horror similarity. But seriously, I was expecting her to look more obviously weird. She was probably starting to look weird by the time all this happened, but if someone showed me this photo and asked me to describe who she is and what she does I'd say she looks like a typical suburban housefrau who probably spends her time shopping at Michael's and Joanne's when she isn't driving her 3 kids around in the family Suburban.

Beggars can't be choosers.

Sheesh, though ... if person is making the effort of trying to feed a lot of people, pork is going to give you a lot of meat for the dollar.

"Cafeteria Christianity" --that's an appropriate phrase. My husband and I have visited a few of the larger churches around town, and it amazes me that people have preference for one over the other, because they're all the same fluff entertainment with nothing substantial to offer.

I was kind of excited to hear that Spielburg was making a movie about the Olympic terrorism. I saw the movie "One Day in September," and I thought there were a lot of interesting things that were suggested that would make for interesting plot elements in a movie --and make Germany look cowardly and E. Germany look suspicious. But I have a feeling Spielburg isn't going to touch on those interesting international dynamics. Speaking of Spielburg's Jewishness, Isn't Spielburg more into that UFO nonsense than God?

I agree about the reporting. You can tell which way the reporters lean by the facts they include and the facts the exclude. What I don't get about the supporters: were they trying to prove that he was innocent all along or that he was a cold blooded murderer who they believe was completely reformed? The Left never takes a consistent side. Just like their support for the Palestinians --"Oh they're such victims" --then when you point out that they're not victims they fall on the "tit for tat argument."

One thing that is certain, Tookie knew he only need to talk peace for the peacenicks to take his side. I looked at his Peace Protocol on his Tookie.com website. It is so stupid and empty, and doesn't reflect any deep knowledge of human nature. It's the typical Liberal "we'll ignore basic laws of human nature for the sake of an easy utopian vision." No doubt Tookie would be beaten up if he tried to take that protocol to the streets himself.

Speaking of Liberal inconsistencies, why is it that the left wing stands unquestioningly behind Ramsey Clark, who defends the rapes, tortures, and massacres of Saddam as something Saddam was in his right to do as a leader --yet they don't stand behind the state of California which is following the letter of law by executing a brutal murderer.

As far the professional peacemaker status, it doesn't end with the book. I was just watching the televised show of local news radio personalities from Sacramento. The info bar at the bottom advertised that Cindy is speaking tonight at UC Davis... tickets cost $10. I suppose she has an agent now to manage this new career.