I need to vent

[daveb]

Thanks all for giving me the pleasure of the vent. It was, may I say, therapeutic, although it doesn't really fix anything.

I don't know how this got to be a Kerry issue, but you can say whatever you want as far as I am concerned.

All of the comments about lawsuits and the whimpening of our children - I give a hearty amen.

I just want to say, it's after Kerry lost that we decided to weaken Habeus Corpus - all I have to do is call you a terrorist and you have no rights.

It's after he lost that we decided to gut the geneva convention, all I have to do is call you a terrorist and you have no rights.

It's got little to do with him that our emails are being screened, and it's got little to do with him that an friend of mine receives mail from overseas which has been opened. He has family in a country North of Lebanon. I guess that makes him a threat.

(Speaking of screening emails, it reminds me that one of the chips I worked on at my former employer had a feature copying the data from one port to another port, the "snooper" port, so we could analyze the traffic through the network without interrupting the traffic. You can also channel the copied traffic straight to disk for later analysis, which turns out to be how they screen emails. This means I may have actually enabled my own monitoring. Now THAT peees me off. Hopefully they use some other chips in those particular systems.)

And it's certainly not the liberals who want to tell me what I can't do in my bedroom.

After the threat of lawsuits, It's the folks who are telling me they are defending my freedoms who are limiting them most.

It's the folks who claim to believe in small government that are blowing out the debt and growing spending at 4X the growth rate of the previous administration.

It's the folks who call themselves fiscally conservative who label me liberal for thinking we should balance a budget. I kid you not. That's "liberal" now. Un-freaking-believeable.

It's the folks who claim to be pro-life who care the least about all of the deaths overseas.

Yes, I now have a huge target on my forehead for saying those things. Blast away. It's still true. And yes, I'm a total fool that it's the stupid halloween costume which caused me to finally squawk.

[kdwesq]

The haves (vs. the have nots) for years have remained in power by keeping the majority of society segmented and manageable. Most everything boils down to money and power. Phone calls have been reviewed for years and it is only a concern now because it is a devisive political issue. As long as J. Edgar was powerful, no one cared that he flamed with the best of them. No one in society will be free until the petty political issues that devide the masses are no longer important.
I fought my way through the public school system and had my butt blistered at every opportunity. To me, that was funny. I had teachers who told me that I would not amount to anything. That made me angry. The schools have a tough job. They really do not have the time to educate our children because they have to deal with so many, whose parents do not educate them. I believe that my three children would not be college now if I had not taken it upon myself to make sure that they could read, write, and do their math. They have a few manners as well.
The thing that really ticked me off when my children were in elementary school was that they were not allowed to play on the playground equipment because someone might get hurt. Also, they did not have a regular recess, because someone might get hurt.
Most of society is so afraid that they have no chance to be free.

I'm glad I have a Jeep!

[CJRon]

it's a few bad apples that have ruined the whole bunch. It's kids out there that are shooting up the schools that are making schools be more strict and not allowing such things as costumes.

The way to solve this problem.....bust their butts. Is it the kids faults? I don't think so. You look at the kids nowadays who are out of control. Look how they are brought up. Parents fault? Well, if they touch the child then it's abuse. So, who do we blame? Sure, you can blame the parents to a certain degree, but there is only so much a parent can do without touching the child. I learned to be who I am today from getting my butt busted when I did wrong. Don't think I didn't get pulled behind the barn with a paddle. I learned right from wrong....sometimes I learned the hard way. But, to this day, I don't steal, never did drugs, and respect my parents and am thankful for the whoopin's I received

I have noticed this at my job too. People can be late, no call\no show, and leave whenever and you can't do anything about it. People must be taught self respect and self dicipline in order to be good employees and good people in general. Our bosses are so scared that people might get upset because you write them up for being late and that the employee might quit their job. God forbid you ever have a loser, always late, come in whenever they want employee leave the company

[sandlapper]

Originally Posted by daveb

Thanks all for giving me the pleasure of the vent. It was, may I say, therapeutic, although it doesn't really fix anything.

I don't know how this got to be a Kerry issue, but you can say whatever you want as far as I am concerned.

All of the comments about lawsuits and the whimpening of our children - I give a hearty amen.

I just want to say, it's after Kerry lost that we decided to weaken Habeus Corpus - all I have to do is call you a terrorist and you have no rights.

It's after he lost that we decided to gut the geneva convention, all I have to do is call you a terrorist and you have no rights.

It's got little to do with him that our emails are being screened, and it's got little to do with him that an friend of mine receives mail from overseas which has been opened. He has family in a country North of Lebanon. I guess that makes him a threat.

(Speaking of screening emails, it reminds me that one of the chips I worked on at my former employer had a feature copying the data from one port to another port, the "snooper" port, so we could analyze the traffic through the network without interrupting the traffic. You can also channel the copied traffic straight to disk for later analysis, which turns out to be how they screen emails. This means I may have actually enabled my own monitoring. Now THAT peees me off. Hopefully they use some other chips in those particular systems.)

And it's certainly not the liberals who want to tell me what I can't do in my bedroom.

After the threat of lawsuits, It's the folks who are telling me they are defending my freedoms who are limiting them most.

It's the folks who claim to believe in small government that are blowing out the debt and growing spending at 4X the growth rate of the previous administration.

It's the folks who call themselves fiscally conservative who label me liberal for thinking we should balance a budget. I kid you not. That's "liberal" now. Un-freaking-believeable.

It's the folks who claim to be pro-life who care the least about all of the deaths overseas.

Yes, I now have a huge target on my forehead for saying those things. Blast away. It's still true. And yes, I'm a total fool that it's the stupid halloween costume which caused me to finally squawk.

Amen to all this. It makes me sick that America has reached a point that "everyone" isn't entitled to their opinion. If you have "Democrat" on your car, you get all sorts of nasty comments and the bird. Gimme a break!

We are outnumbered. Too many PC groups are anxious to protect the " cibel libbities" of minivan drivers and foreigners.

amen

The community/city I live in doesn't even have Halloween on Halloween! As for the politically correct, sunshine pumping, feel good mentality that's breaking down all that was good about life in America...you guys have pretty well covered it. :~)

[R.Ducky]

I am not sure how many times a year you fly but I know how many times a year I watch TSA pull some old lady out of line and go through her bags while a 20 something middle eastern guy walks right on the plane all because they dont want to be accused of racial profiling.

Sorry to not agree, but no halloween costumes in school is the best choice. Where do you draw the line? Better to just say stay with the uniform. Is a Hitler costume OK for instance just because it is halloween? Does the principal stand at the front door and approve/disapprove every students costume as they walk in.

Then when some some kid in Lenexa, Kansas brings a gun to school under his cape on his costume it will be the school district getting sued by the parents for allowing halloween costumes. Its the best choice in the world we live in today to keep your son safe.

There are some very good points being made here from all angles.
It is my contention that this country of ours is and has been being divided by the extreme factions of both ends of the political spectrum.
THATS WASN'T THE MINDSET when I grew up.The radical end of the left always want to moan and bitch about their rights(which in reality are for the most part PRIVELEDGES)and spreading the wealth through taxation.The radical(religious)right goal is to control all aspects of our personal lives(what goes on in my house is my **** business,and not theirs...as long as another's welfare is not put in harms way,including my pets.
I say...stay out of my pocketbook and stay out of my personal life
to those who want the above mentioned envoked upon us. BTW...the term(liberal) didn't even become a "nasty buzzword" until the Reagan era.Believe me,I do understand there are some very complex issues we all must address to keep the pendelum from swinging to far in either direction.It is essential that we keep this ship we are all in centered.
My .........vote Libretarian!

[98sport]

Originally Posted by R.Ducky

I am not sure how many times a year you fly but I know how many times a year I watch TSA pull some old lady out of line and go through her bags while a 20 something middle eastern guy walks right on the plane all because they dont want to be accused of racial profiling.

Sorry to not agree, but no halloween costumes in school is the best choice. Where do you draw the line? Better to just say stay with the uniform. Is a Hitler costume OK for instance just because it is halloween? Does the principal stand at the front door and approve/disapprove every students costume as they walk in.

Then when some some kid in Lenexa, Kansas brings a gun to school under his cape on his costume it will be the school district getting sued by the parents for allowing halloween costumes. Its the best choice in the world we live in today to keep your son safe.

I agree! Times change and so must we as a society to keep up with it. Basically it boils down to "all or nothing at all."

No one will be truly happy no matter what. Those who don't want halloween costumes are unhappy when it's allowed. And those who do are unhappy when it's not allowed. No matter what happens not everyone can be happy. Although I am not a holiday person at all anyway and never have been so I can't say I feel or understand what some of you feel.