Hey all, she is Speaker of the House.  Herding people to action is her job, so of course she has to know which ones will not be herded. 

Good for you, Ellen Tauscher!  This is very important for military readiness.  I do think this solution has to start with Congress because of all the statutes that require gays to be discharged.  I will have to send her a note, thanking her for doing this. 

I love it that hundreds of people are sending Elie Wiesel money.  Madoff not only ruined his foundation, he wiped out his family’s personal money.  So people are sending him money.  I think that is just beautiful.  I will have to find his address so I can send him some too.  What Madoff did —not just to Wiesel but to so many others—is just horrific.  I hope they can find the money and start giving it back to people. 

I wonder if we will get to the point where every comment will be deleted five minutes after it is posted.  That would mean our posts would have more of the ephemeral quality of conversation; if you are not right there to read them when typed, they are gone to you. 

 It would certainly make it a different type of forum.

It occurs to me that maybe you have never actually listened to Rush Limbaugh.  He calls people names all day long.  Turnabout is fair play.

I saw this on C-SPAN this morning and did a little dance.   I don’t think I was alone.

The President does not call people names for a living.  Limbaugh does.  Understand the difference.

Does anyone remember an episode of Murphy Brown where Rush Limbaugh appeared and played himself?  It seems to me that this current brouhaha is a replay of the stuff going on back then.  Of course, maybe I am remembering it from a dream, and it never really happened, but I remember feeling unnerved by it.

I live in California and pray for rain.  Of course, then when it does rain, I start plotting activities for when the sun returns.  Between the praying and plotting, I forget to get depressed.  Oh and I take extra vitamin D and fish oil in the winter since I am not out in the sun as much.

But I do remember living back east and hoping that the other drivers on the road have remembered their snow tires and know how to drive in snow/slush/sleet/hail/rain.   It was just strange how often Washington D.C. would come to a full stop in winter.  I miss the snow and the voluptuous springs sometimes, but not as much as I thought I would. 

Universal.  Health. Care.  This is so important.  Among industrialized nations, we have the worst infant mortality statistics.  We have less longevity, more preventable diseases that people are succumbing too.  It is such a gigantic waste to see people die of things that would have been diagnosed, treated and cured if they had only had the sense to live in France. 

I also think that once we get universal health care [an affordable version], where everyone pays into and everyone receives health insurance or health care in some way, that our businesses will be freed of the obligation to cover escalating health expenses and therefore be better able to compete globally.  Our current dysfunctional system is sinking the population and the economy as surely as any greedy investment banker or Enron executive.  A lot of money in our current "health system" is simply wasted.  

I think one of the problems Clinton ran into was that he had a Congress unreceptive to changing the rule against gays, and the U.S. Code contains provisions making homosexual behavior in the military grounds for court martial.  http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/casecode/uscodes/10/subtitles/a/parts/ii/chapters/37/sections/section_654.html  Clinton simply knew he could not get Congress to make the changes he wanted to permit gays to openly be gay in the military so he came up with the Don’t ask, don’t tell idea.  Unfortunately, what it did was make people aware that there in fact were gays in the military and some people tried to find them out, out them, etc. 

 It is a huge problem for military readiness.  Whenever you arbitrarily exclude a segment of the population from service, you are saying you are willing to accept an armed services that is not necessarily the best qualified for the job.  That is the reason Truman integrated the Armed Forces, because it was clear that the Tuskegee Airmen were superior in their skill and dedication and had demonstrated that.  The loss of all those translators has been terribly expensive.  Every day since we lost them, I have seen ads pleading for translators, offering huge sums.  

 I am not sure that Congress—or the Pentagon, which after all has its own peculiar culture—is willing to make the changes needed in the statutes, but we should urge them to do so.  And we should definitely work to improve the status of women in the Armed Forces.  No one should have to accept rape and not report it for fear for her life.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminazi

 He should apologize profusely, over and over.  Then he should spend five years just listening to women, not saying a word.

Sorry about my typo.  That was LOVE not loce.  I should proofread more carefully.

Happy Birthday Jane!  I loce your writing, loved it long before I knew it was yours.  It is so nice to sort of meet you here on this forum.  Enjoy your day and your new new year!

For most people over forty they have experienced some great injustice.  I say forgive, but don’t forget.  Trust is something that once lost, is hard to regain.  And if you work for someone and they sexually harass you or refuse to pay you, why would you work for them again? 

One of the things I have learned over the years is that most people want for themselves not justice but mercy.  Look at the bankers.  They don’t want justice, but they want lots of mercy.