This is no more insulting than the existence of magazines like Vogue or shows like What to War. Anthropologically we like to adorn ourselves. People are going to be interested in style details of a woman like Mechelle. It isn’t anti-feminist to say, “She’s smart and where can I get that dress?” I’m saying that as the ponytail/no makeup, minivan-driving, chicken coop owning, ex-rugby player living on brains alone because NO ONE wants to steal my style and still wishing that ONCE I could have hair like Gloria Steinem. If you don’t want to know, don’t seek the information. Some of us do like to dream of a Princeton degree and the wardrobe to match.

WOW! I’m surprised by how many people think trickle down economics works after having watched it in action. Rich people can only spend so much of their money money and therefore don’t stimulate production, though they may stimulate banking services. Poor people spend all their money and if given more would spend that too just to cover the necessities. That would increase demand for goods resulting in more jobs (manufacturing, sales, and service though ideally those jobs would be in this country). I’m not an economist, but it seems to me like a production economy would be better for us than one that either spends or invests in the economies of other countries. Financial wellness, in my opinion, would be better measured by modal indicators (money in the hands of many) than means or medians. Dunno. Maybe I’m off on this and rich people should be given tax breaks to buy two Hummers while poor people should pay to ride the bus. It just seems to me that money has an intrinsic value too. If you earn $10 an hour, after an hour of work you are maxed out buying milk, bread, and peanut butter whereas if you make $100 an hour you have $90 leftover - plenty enough for jelly. Whose pennies are more vital to daily living? So, are people more important than capital? Nah, not in this country if our behaviors tell us anything. And as a side note, people with no kids or whose kids have already graduated, pay for public education because you can only build a security wall so tall. That and you want educated masses to vote. It’s a vital cost. Also, voters have a lot of say in those taxes. They can vote for or against bonds. They can increase or not their millages. They can also save money by getting rid of NCLB.

Yes. In good ways and in bad ways but not in all ways.

We pretty much do most of our driving in the summer. A break on the price of gas looks good to me - esp if it’s paid for from oil profits.
In general I’m not for falsely cheapified goods. My income bracket means we will spend that economic stimulus check and then some, though I think it’s like giving booze to a drunk. It’s annoying as a country “we the people” make one dumb financial decision after another. It only seems like this stuff benefits us because it’s short term yummy, but it’s long term financial indigestion.

Just returned from family vacay in Vancouver. I was taken aback that every seedy highway motel in the US provides free breakfast and wifi and that was definitely not the case in our $200 per night hotel there. I guess it’s easy enough to pay for those when you save money with healthcare. Also, the exchange rate wasn’t all that friendly. But the people were wonderful. Gaslight was okay, Chinatown (third largest in N. America) was okay, lots was okay, but Stanley park was FABULOUS! High rise hotels with slammin’ views are pretty cool when you are a hayseed too.

Love Ann Richards. Love, love, love her.

Childishly, my hope is that my husband doesn’t have to go back to Iraq, that his brothers and nephew come back safe and unharmed, and that I will go to bed tonight and it will all go away leaving a peaceful world where humanity means the best of what we have to offer each other and not the worst.

The earth has always had periods of global warming and global cooling. It’s natural. The difference between this climate change and the others is that there has been a significant species impact (people) on the climate. Because we have control over that, we should exercise that power by reducing our impact.

The change in climate can’t be judged anecdotally on weather patterns. These are often cyclical patters (8 year droughts) and understanding them better helps us prepare.

BTW, it seems to me not everyone thinks global warming is a bad thing. I remember some tippity top folks in leadership positions in this very land that I love saying global warming means extended growing seasons and new trade routes. YAY! ;-P

First church, where I can finally say “alleluia” again. I will mean it because Lenten sacrifices are done with and I don’t have to think about thorny crowns, pain, and suffering anymore.

White sandals for my darling girl. The one time I can force my darling boy in pink. Same dress as every year with me and a new Guyaberra for DH.

Feasting with friends and an egg hunt for the kids. We reuse our plastic eggs every year filled with coins so as to not rot the kids’ teeth or clog the landfills.

Oh, Anne Krieg. I feel as though you are me. And Tommi Carrot, I can’t lie either.

I’ve known my husband for 20 years and he is my soul mate. I wouldn’t jeopardize that because I wanted action and I can’t hurt the one person in life who who “sees” me. I also don’t need much ego stroking since my husband does that well enough.

This is a lot like the would you stay with your husband poll. Cheating has broad definitions and also it’s hard to say what one would or would not do. My hubby has a good friend who is a woman and I don’t have a problem with that relationship. OTOH, a girlfriend of his from high school wrote to him and even though I trust him and he shared the e-mail with me, I did say that was a little beyond my comfort level. Some old male friends of mine have contacted me and because I would think my husband would feel the same, I answer politely and encourage nothing. They go away.

I can’t say what I would do because, to my knowledge, it’s never happened. I did tell my husband, as the first poster did, that I don’t believe in divorce, but I do believe in justifiable homicide. I would be hurt, but I’ve known this man for 20 years and we came through a lot of tough stuff during those years. I don’t know that I wouldn’t ruin the relationship after an affair because of my elephantine memory and resentments.

I have two siblings in-law who have been cheated on by their spouse and both stayed. The infidelity wasn’t erased, but siblings insisted we hate the sin and love the sinner. So the rest of us have done our best to honor the cheater in the marriage. That isn’t always easy either.

I’m not so stupid that I don’t see the benefit in a bailout. At the same time, if these companies functioned ethically, properly, legally while providing a quality service that the people need and want and they still don’t succeed financially, then isn’t it the financial will of the people who don’t support that company? The bailout uses the people’s money - the same people and their money that they have chosen not to give to that company individually.

When a company large enough to impact the economy fails (like these creepy gambling banks), isn’t that “the hand of God” acting? I guess I’m tired of looking high and low for Mom and Pops so that I can help bail them out when Big Box moves in next door. It’s exhausting to research which companies are being responsible and doing it right and which are sucking us dry.

And like MirtyAnn, it’s hard for me to stomach the bailout of individuals who over extended themselves for luxury when financially responsible folks continue to struggle. I’m not talking about the people who suffered from predatory lending, but the ones who truly went for luxury.

Meanwhile, my kids’ school just lost teachers and the second graders next year are slated to have 40+ kids PER CLASS! Additionally, my husband may wind up back in Iraq where KBR charges $20 per plate of food to feed him and provides contaminated drinking water. In this country, our spending priorities are screwed up. Our government may need the bailout.

Creepy. I just spent all morning cleaning out my snail mail and e-mail boxes, taking care of my board at work, and dealing with private finances. Am I ahead of the game? I sent a note requesting that my nephew come visit from 1000 miles away. Will it work out?

It seems to me the women on Mount Rushmore should first be US citizens and second be political figures (since we have no female presidents to choose from) - if they are to parallel the actual Mt. Rushmore mugs. That would exclude powerful women figures from countries outside the US and those citizens whose influence wasn’t strictly political. As a side note, in graduate school I cataloged the photographs of a major engineer on the Mount Rushmore project. I got to see the Black Hills before the faces went up, the process of blasting, and the freshly completed project. That was a cool job.