He took a plea agreement then fled the country when it looked like it was going to be ignored by the Judge. So he admitted some guilt. Yet he is vetted, adored and celebrated. Given an Oscar for goodness sake! He KNEW she was a 13 year old. How sick is that? Let him serve community service? NEVER! He may be a good director, but he is a rapist. 13!!!!! Sick. I don’t care how old he is, I don’t care what he may have done since.

 Let me ask. If a guard from a concentration camp spent his life making donations and helping people  should he go free when found?  If you can answer yes and explain why then I shall listen to the defenders of this schmuck. No one is above the law. Neither a President nor a homeless person. It’s either equal or not.

I don’t find him attractive at all. However I agree with y’all. Not my business. Remember even people we might think are above such things slip. Bill Cosby was a shock to me. But I still like him. I guess it is easier to forgive when we aren’t the ones who suffered the trespass. But I will say, if you are dating someone, you are in a relationship. Being married is not the time when you change from being able, to not being able, to sleep around. Sorry Alicia, but he cheated on his girlfriend. Bad monkey Dave! 

I was the one on the receiving end of a Mother stunting your growth as an adult. She was terrified of being alone, and felt I should take care of the house. She also claimed she wanted me to be assertive and go to school. Two opposing thoughts in her head and the last one was constantly undermined by her actions.

I am a naturally submissive person who when you add in certain actions left me in a bad way when she died. Through long hard times, and painful leasons I am in a better way and finally have confidence in myself and my abilities. But never being shown how to handle money, how to stick up for myself, and to believe in myself caused so many issues. 

The mother in letter #1 is setting her son up for failure in a massive way. Although the writer is wanting to help both of them  but I think the mother wont realize unless a fellow adult and someone close to boot lets her know she wont be around forever and the daughter, as a doctor, wont be able to take care of her brother. I dont think it will work, but it needs said. 

Best of luck in all you do. Pam

 *Steps on Soap-box*

I am amazed that so many are rushing to abuse the current President when he has been in office less than 12 months. I see the extremists, (NOT refering to the posters here, though they might miss this sentence.), as wishing to blame someone for the current situation no matter how illogical it is. What is needed is balance, in world affairs, economics, and here at home. You can hear any amount of folks in the media telling you what they think. Just remember that it is always coloured by their biases. Critical thinking is a needed ingredient in any dialog and not knee-jerk reactionary behaviors. We are in this together. We can either fix this or watch the country we all love and are proud of wither like my poor carrots. I just want people to be able to say any president was good in this way and made mistakes here. In other words not just dislike him because of his party, colour, or even his accent. Stop assigning blame and lets work towards a true balanced America. 

*Bows and steps off Soap-box*

Just my point of view: I work in retail and see parents who will disobey store rules such as having to be 18 to use a massage chair. I have watched parents plop tots down and give them a massage but if you advise the parents their kids can’t use the chairs because of store policy, (and liability issues), some get offended. The attutude they offer is one of "I can ignore the rules if they aren’t to my liking!". Certainly not all adults are this way, however I wonder if the children of the ones who are mis-behave at home and use this excuse.

 It is frustrating for someone who was rasied to obey rules and be polite to watch others throw the glue of community away. I do firmly believe in letting kids be kids but you have to teach them control of them selves from a young age. Hince the mis-behavior seen today. 

I saw the sentence in LW1 as being a "problem" because the child is leaving for the new world of school while she is still having the old world of full time mother. More a need to redirect her energies rather than assigning blame. Just my view-point.

LW2, good that you have discovered your feelings now. I went through a relationship with someone I think bordered upon the a-sexual. He was going through the mothions but was not really looking to connect rather use me as a block for the assumptions people were making about his life since he shared a place with a gay person. The roomie was developing a crush upon my ex, and he had no desire to be forth right with the roomie since he was/is passive aggresive. I was introduced as a way to stem the tide of feelings the roomie was developing. Sadly I was the one hurt, and spent almost 2 years in denial of affection and sex because he could not admit he had no feelings for me romanticly. Someone who has seen how he/she has no strong feelings either way and is careful to protect others from the pain is a good thing. But don’t beat yourself up about it. Just make your life and yourself happy as much as you can and enjoy the person you are. Best wishes!  :)

This is a rough subject. Such deep passion entwined in the "sides". I see it this way:  Like other groups who use a bludgeon to acomplish thier ends the Right to Life groups fail to effect changes so the existing babies in the world can be healthy and happy. They wish to dictate the choices women and the people in their lives make with their own bodies but refuse to help the children in the world already. If a stranger can force a child to be born then by extention they have a moral right to see the child be taken care of after birth. You can not force something to occur then shrug your shoulders when it does and say "Not my problem now!"  I would give more respect to the folks who feel so very passionate about abortion prevention if I felt they truly cared about the end result. That is the dicotomy I see with the extremists who consider violence as a justified right as well. "My way is aproved by _____ (fill in the Diety), so I can hurt and maim to win."

Religon is important. Respect is vital. Concern is another word for society. Love is another word for sacrifice. Extremism is another word for the Devil. Not knowing you are the extremist is the way to Hell. Good done in the Devils way is still evil. Evil done in Dieties name is still evil. 

For Reader #2: Wow, I went through the same thing. That guy just had no guts. You can only give one way for so long.

Sad to say, move on. Give him a taste though and quit contacting him. LOL drives theose kind of gutless-guys nuts!