I am sitting here asking myself "Now why does this story remind me of the movie ‘Talledega Nights: The Ricky Bobby Story’, …the twins’ names in the film were Walker and Texas Ranger…hmm…."

I really hate that the ‘gun culture’ is so deeply entrenched in our society. As I type this I cannot help but think of the late Charlton Heston’s grand-standing for the NRA…Saying "You’ll take my gun when you pry it out of my cold, dead hand", etc. The right to bear arms may have been a necessity in the American frontier at the birth of our nation, but we have run out of frontier, and in  21st century weapons are brandished which have fire power and killing capacity  our forebearers would think impossible.

 Still, many Americans seem to hold their guns closer than they do their children, and more and more mentally unstable people are using them to execute their own flesh and blood. Others, disenchanted with life and stressed to the breaking point, arm themselves to the teeth  to take as many strangers as they can with them in their suicidal last stands. There are SO many guns out there…with shamefully slight and ineffectual control over their sale and usage…A satisfactory solution to this problem will be difficult to arrive at, and much more difficult to enact. Nevertheless, I think we in the U.S. need to reevaluate our attitudes towards firearms and SOME kind of federal gun control laws must be enacted. Much of the high powered weaponry that the NRA argues for is used, not for recreational hunting of animals, to hunt and kill our fellow human beings. Such weapons are frequently used in criminal acts—including the wounding or killing of police officers.

 The U.S. leads the first world in gun-related crime….and we are long overdue for some kind of sweeping uniform gun control in this nation. No, I do not now, nor have I ever owned a gun (if I had, I don’t think I would have survived my violent marriage). No, I do not hunt; I am sure the conservatives here will just say I am another ‘bleeding-heart liberal’ who wants them to give up their precious firearms. I would like to say, however, that I am a healthcare professional who has worked countless hours trying to save countless lives of those who have been victims of gun violence.

 My answer to those who say "Guns don’t kill people, PEOPLE kill people", is: "Jingoism be damned! The ready availability of guns make it too easy for disturbed people with vendetttas to kill. If one is on a mission of destruction, guns make it all too easy to carry out the deadly work. This is not the frontier. This is not the overly romanticized ‘wild west’. We are living in America in 2009, and these times of mass communication, 24-7 news coverage, rapid travel, etc., are like no other. We cannot use 18th or 19th century logic to handle todays problems. More training and information go into the licensure for driving a car than do obtaining weapons in many states, and gun laws vary widely from state to state. The least we can do as a society is to try to deal with the problem of violence in our country, and standardizing and tightening gun ownership laws would definitely be a step in the right direction!"

Well—‘touched up’ or not—seeing the bust of Nefertiti in Berlin was a thrill for me! I have always been interested in Akhenaton, and  had always wanted to see the El Amarna artifacts. In 2003, I got the chance. Nefertiti’s beauty spans an ocean of time, and she took my breathe away! The German archaeological expedition was SO lucky to find that artifact is such a state of preservation!

While I see the ironic humor Bernie Madoff’s resemblance to the portrait of George Washington on our one dollar bill, I am sure that the comparison must have the first American president rolling in his grave! George Washington had his faults, but  he was a man who COULD have been ‘king of America’, but he balked at this idea. Like Cinncinatus, Mr. Washington did his duty for his country, then returned to his farm in Virginia, relegating dynasties and ‘divine rights of kings’ to the old world. Madoff, on the other hand, took the trust and fortunes entrusted to him by others and built his personal financial empire built upon the work and very LIVES of those ‘others’. He was a man who had power at his disposal and who became a corrupt demagogue. Unlike Washington, in his way, Madoff was a man who WOULD be king!

Although I live in Birmingham, I work in Montgomery. I’ll try to check it out one weekend when I’m on call (I’m a CRNA and  stay down there when I’m on call). THANKS GEORGIA!

I can’t help but wonder just what kind of person Sarah Palin "just wants to hold hands and pray" with…..Could it be…

http://www.countrykeepers.com/images/church_lady.jpg?!

I have to take issue with something Peggey Rometo said: Impatience and a tendency for throwing tantrums are NOT the characteristics of a "very grounded" person! The only thing that is "grounded" about Limbaugh is the gravitational forces existing between his mass and the planet!