Nightingale

It is so easy to tamper with those voting machines. It's frightening, especially since there are ways to create a paper trail of votes, and the company making the machines simply refuses to do it. Incorporate a printer into the machine, have it print out a record of votes for the voter, and a carbonless copy of the same record stays in the machine. The copies must be printed at the same time on the same printer to prevent tampering. Two printers (one for the voter and one for the record) allows tampering, but a cash-register style printer would eliminate that. It's incredibly simple to do, but that company refuses to do it. I am using absentee ballots from now on because I want there to be a paper trail of my vote. Anyone remotely familiar with computers knows how easy it is to tamper with data when there is no hard copy.

Anonymously leave deodorant on his desk with a post it attached saying "use me."

It never occurred to me to tell my parents "you're not my real mom". My parents explained to me and my brother really young that a mom or dad is someone who loves you and takes care of you, and it doesn't matter at all who gave birth to you. It didn't occur to us to question that definition until we were old enough to know that saying stuff like "you're not my real mom" wouldn't accomplish anything and just cause a lot of hurt feelings.

I've never bothered to look for my birth parents. I have, however, made myself very easy to find if someone is looking for me and has the right information. I've also signed a confidentiality waiver with the agency, so they can give my birth parents my info if they want it. I only bothered with all that because a friend of mine was looking for her birth parents, and I saw the agony she went through because of a need to know, and her birth father had been searching for her also. I didn't want anyone to go through unnecessary trouble just to find me. If someone contacts me, cool. If not, I don't care. I've got a family, they're wonderful, I love them, and they love me. Genetics don't define family. Feelings define family. There are five adopted kids in my family, including my brother, myself, and three cousins, and nobody's treated any differently than the biological kids. It's really cool to know how much my parents wanted me; that they wanted a kid so much that they went through home inspections, interviews, and expense just to have my brother and me in their lives.

Regarding stafford loans: Even if you consolidate the loans while you're in school, you do NOT start paying them until you graduate. Also, any amount that was subsidized remains subsidized as long as you are eligible. I just consolidated my loans: Total: 95K Subsidized 58K I pay no interest at all on the 58K until I graduate. On the rest, the interest rate is very slightly higher than what the original loans were, but in July, the interest rates on those loans would've gone sky-high, and so I'll be saving a ton of money in the long run. When I graudate, I'll have to start making payments, and the subsidized portion will begin to accrue interest. I'll probably be getting another degree after this one, so once I start that program, the 58K will become subsidized again.

Immediate cutaway.

Ugh. I'd like to round up all those ladies and drag them to MAC for a lesson in how to match foundation to their skin tone. If they must wear it, at least wear the right color. I wear make-up when I'm going out somewhere nice or getting my picture taken, or to a job interview. I don't wear make-up anywhere else, really. Never, ever to the beach, karate school, dance studio, or dropzone (other than a bit of tinted moisturizer with SPF so I don't burn).

Rosetta Stone. Hands down. Immersion based computer program that teaches you the same way you learned your first language. One of the high schools around here used the English version for its ESL program... the students' test scores went from close to the bottom to the top, and they loved the program so much the school left the lab open late after school, and the kids started bringing in their parents to use the program too! I learned more spanish in one month of RS than I learned french in three years of high school. My subscription ran out, and I need to renew it. www.rosettastone.com You can either flat out buy the program (and then sell it on ebay when you're done for close to what you paid) or you can do a monthly subscription and access it online.

Go with your gut, and keep in mind that the easy decision usually won't be the right one.

Yes, she's fairly legendary. I'm no tattoo afficionado, but she's one I knew of - of course, having gone to school in Santa Barbara helped. She tattooed two of my ex girlfriends - neither of whome were from Santa Barbara. McBeth has one from Pat also. (really awesome design...perhaps we can pursuade her to post a picture?). So does Clownburner (his is very cool. he should post a picture too). He got his right after I got mine. I insisted on going first because I was afraid I'd wuss out. =) The entire time, I was thinking "why the fuck am I doing this?" but afterward, when I saw it in the mirror, I was so glad I did. Sure wasn't cheap, though. I'd been saving for months.

There isn't a zoom out; that's the whole picture. It's on my lower back. I figured that was probably the one place I could cover it when I need to but show it if I want. I think he just wanted to see your butt. I know that, silly, but you're the only one that gets to see my butt. He did also imply he wanted to know the location, so I told him.

She may be; it depends on what the problem is and whether she requires ongoing treatment. My cat has an ongoing condition and will be on a special diet forever, which is why he is not insurable. The insurance companies have told me if I can take him off the diet, they will insure him.

Consider getting pet insurance so you're able to financially handle something like this in the future. Ask your vet which plan you should consider. Most are less than $20 a month. I can't insure my cats because they're on a special diet (pre-existing medical condition and all that), so I've got a rainy-day savings account that can cover stuff like that. There's not many things worse than having to euthanize your companion for something treatable because you don't have the cash. Some vets won't do it. The vet I take my cats to won't euthanize for something treatable. He offers to take the animal and treat it, and then keeps it at the clinic as a blood donor. The animal is so pampered and fussed over by the vets and the techs, and the other animals benefit from having a matching donor on site in the case of an emergency. Everyone wins. Glad your puppy is going to be okay. You must post new pictures as soon as she is feeling better so we can all fuss over how adorable she is!

Communism. Takes away personal responsibility. Communism works great when you've got a small community and everyone buys into the system, does their share, and shares what they have. it doesn't work on a large scale. You end up sacrificing both personal freedom and property without having any choice. Capitalism is a system that thrives on personal responsibility. The problem is that many people don't want to be responsible for themselves. They want the government to pay for their food, medical care, childcare, etc. Most capitalist societies do have programs for people who are down on their luck. When people start to depend on those programs rather than on themselves is when we run into problems.

Talk to your supervisor. Maybe he can have a meeting reminding everyone that it's better for productivity if one person stays home sick rather than coming in and getting ten other people sick. Where I used to work, they had a policy that you didn't get any sick time at all until you were off probation (6 months). So, if you got sick anytime in the first six months, you either didn't get paid that day or you dragged yourself to the office. We had one guy, one of the clerks, who could not afford to miss work. He missed work, he couldn't pay his rent. So, he came in sick. A few days later, there were about thirteen people out. So, in not wanting to give this poor guy one sick day, the company then lost the work of more than ten times that one.

I'm close friends with three of my exes. My boyfriend is close friends with one of his. This is not a problem, because we trust each other. He says he's having coffee with her, I say "have fun". I say I'm playing pool or emailing one of my exes, he says to tell them hello. If you trust each other, who you hang out with is a non-issue. If you don't trust each other, you've got deeper issues than just being friends with your ex.

Make sure your work doesn't have a policy against coworkers dating. Make sure she's single. A good friend did this when he wanted to date a girl he saw at a coffee shop every day: Call a florist and have one rose delivered to her at work every day for a week, starting on a monday. Don't sign the card. Let her wonder who they're from. On Friday of that week, deliver the rose (or 8 more to complete the dozen, depending on your style) in person and ask her out. It worked brilliantly. They're married with two kids.

6. Heterosexual vaginal intercourse

Rechargeables.

It just means that two people with a common enemy are likely to work together as allies.

There isn't a zoom out; that's the whole picture. It's on my lower back. I figured that was probably the one place I could cover it when I need to but show it if I want.

thank you! The artist is Pat Fish.

Think a lot harder before you get a tattoo. Usually, the people that wake up and say "I think I'll get a tattoo today!" are the ones getting them lasered off a few years later. My tattoo is attached. I spent over a year thinking about it and getting the design just right, and then went to one of the best artists in the US to get it done. I love it.

You can't just look at the words of the second amendment (or any legal document, for that matter). You must also look at the grammar. "A well-regulated militia, being necessary for the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." "The right is not granted by the amendment; its existence is assumed. The thrust of the sentence is that the right shall be preserved inviolate for the sake of ensuring a militia ... The right to keep and bear arms is not said by the amendment to depend on the existence of a militia. No condition is stated or implied as to the relation of the right to keep and bear arms and to the necessity of a well-regulated militia as a requisite to the security of a free state. The right to keep and bear arms is deemed unconditional by the entire sentence." Source: Professor Roy Copperund, retired professor of journalism, USC, and member of the usage panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, and Merriam Webster's Usage Dictionary frequently cites him as an expert. Copperud's fifth book on usage, "American Usage and Style: The Consensus," has been in continuous print from Van Nostrand Reinhold since 1981, and is the winner of the Association of American Publisher's Humanities Award. Take a look at this sentence: "A well-schooled electorate, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and read Books, shall not be infringed.' There's nothing in this sentence that indicates that books should be restricted only to registered voters. It just gives A reason, one of many, that people should be able to keep and read books. Keeping and reading books ensures a well-schooled electorate, but the right to books is not contingent on the purpose of schooling the electorate. The right exists. The purpose of ensuring a well-schooled electorate is simply one of the reasons to continue to protect it.

How did they manage to go through all the US immigration procedures when they were on a boat? Or did they get here and then ask for amnesty? If so, they came here without permission of our government, but our government decided to be nice and grant them the right to stay anyway because of their situation.