Lindsey

Please pack your daughter's suitcase and have her ready for when NannyGov® comes to pick her up. Thank you for your cooperation. HA! They'd have to take ALL the children from around here (well, except for my son who has never shot anything more powerful than a pellet gun). It's extremely common for children to kill their first buck by the time they're 5 or 6. Or does that count in the nanny government...lol. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

That misses the point. The legislative intent behind an open container law is to create as many obstacles to a person having easy access to alcohol (a "quick sip") while in the act of driving. As I said above, it's a balancing of social interests. In other words, the legislators have decided that the fact that this may also inconvenience mere passengers who'd like to drink while riding is less important than the benefit gained by impeding drinking while driving. I do get your point, but I think that having a beer in the car shouldn't be illegal. What should be illegal (and is) is driving intoxicated. A person having a beer while driving home from work is no more impaired than a person who just had a beer at the bar and then drives home. Neither should be illegal, imho, unless that beer puts the driver's BAC over the legal limit in that state. -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

It is fun. I think...no, I know...that I have more fun watching them have fun than I have having fun myself...lol. Know what I mean? So many folks cringed when I told 'em I was taking four children camping. I thought it was great fun. Jay's been camping since he was little, and he's accumulated some pretty decent gear. He's been talking lately about going on a backpacking trip. I think he's ALMOST there, but I'm not sure he'd really have fun backpacking yet. He has so much fun just playing. There's nothing better in this world, though, than being a parent. I wouldn't give this up for anything.... Can't believe he's 10. edited to add more pics linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

It was really fun, actually. Camping at a campground at Petit Jean State Park. I had never camped at a designated camp site until my son was born, and he's getting close to being old enough for some short backpacking trips...but MAAAAN we had a good time. Jay's friends had never camped or hiked! It was fun just teaching them how to set up their own tents and build a camp fire. The girls didn't have anything resembling hiking shoes, but they survived despite that. We hiked two trails, both about 2 miles, each approaching Cedar Falls from different directions--one to the top of the falls and the other to the bottom. So the kids spent a lot of time w e t. Just thought I'd share some pics.... linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

to which I will reply in advance wait till someone you care about is either killed by or kills somoene because there was booze in the car. Many of us have lost people we loved because of drunk drivers. However, people aren't usually killed because of booze in the car, but because of people driving impaired. -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

I'm obviously missing something... Staying alive with no quality of life & in pain somehow keeps the family from having regrets? I don't have a problem with a person dying with dignity under his/her own terms. I don't have a problem with a person committing suicide whose pain and illeness renders his life "meaningless." BUT, there are very few situations in which we are unable to provide adequate pain control and to keep a person comfortable in their final days. If a person does not eat or drink, they die. There's no law that forces anyone to force feed any patient. If in providing pain control, a person's respirations are depressed to the point of causing the person's death as a result, it's not euthanasia, and it happens with some regularity in patients who are terminally ill in hospice programs. I don't want it to be my role to end the person's life. I find it within my role to ease the person's pain, though. I think that euthanasia/assisted suicide are issues best left to the dying patient and his family & friends. There should be some protection under the law for any such situations, whether the assistance is by a friend or a physician though. -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Deinstitutionalization. I remember that transition very well. While it wasn't good that people were locked away in mental institutions for years, what followed hasn't ensured appropriate care for many of the people who need it. There are some intensive community programs that do a pretty good job, but those programs aren't widespread, so the majority are just SOL. Wouldn't it be nice if people's families would bear a little responsibiltiy? In most cases, unfortunately, they don't, and people with serious mental illness find themselves wandering (not wondering, lol...well maybe that too...) the streets or in prison. I wonder where we pay more for them...in prisons or in long-term mental institutions. I have to add, though, back in my social work years, I worked for one of those intensive community programs. One of our patients (or consumers as they were referred to) with schizophrenia, who was given as much support as was possible without institutionalization, murdered someone with a knife. Those incidents are much less common, though, when people have supports than when they don't I'd bet. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

We were thinking about Ventana Wilderness (Big Sur area) but it's pretty close to two major highways, which on the first weekend of May means it will likely be overrun by pests of the two legged variety. So we decided to go here instead. It's way harder to get to (45+ miles from a major highway, the last 15 or so on dirt Forest Service roads), which should translate into blessed solitude. YEAH! That'll be great. I haven't backpacked in soooo long. I'm taking the kids camping this weekend, and Jay and his friend asked me if I'd take them....b a c k p a c k i n g. I think that soon my son will be old enough to enjoy it! I'll only have to be envious of your trips just a little longer....of course with a 10 y/o it's not quite the same, but ya' take what you can get. Have fun old woman (Heh). -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Well, Bush is a bit of an ass, but probably not all of those other things (just some of 'em)...lol. -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

You left out when a person poses a threat to him-/herself or others. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Since I learned from that other thread that GWB is obviously fascist and deliberately moving our country toward a fascist government, I wonder what he's gonna do to Bill Moyer to squash (squish?) him.... -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

So tell me then, what exactly would it take to show you that a gun control law can have an effect on the frequency of mass shootings? Or is there nothing? I already believe that they *can* or *might*. I just don't know that they DO. I need more than an emotional plea by people desperate to forward their political goals to convince me that there is a real, tangible benefit to society to ban gun ownership. Even recognizing a benefit, though, is not enough to make me willing to give up individual freedoms. It would have to be a really big benefit. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

What is this far-away place you speak of? I'll be working. Hope nobody dies. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

So if you think that it didn't, please answer this question: how much longer do we have to wait before we can say that there has been such an effect? Given the small number of incidents and the many other variables (besides the availability of guns) that likely played into those incidents, to be able to say that taking the Brits' guns away had any effect at all will take a lot more than time....no matter how long you wait. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Where can I get a cuddly puppy? He wouldn't know. He's an evil Republican. -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Come to think of it, why not? Because no doctor in their right mind would sign such a piece of paper. You've got nothing to gain and a helluva lot to lose. -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

I'm taking four 10 and 11 y/o kids camping. My step mom says I'm crazy, but I think it'll be fun. I'm taking my son, his best friend Ty, and Ty's twin sisters. Woo HOO! linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

YOU wouldn't sell a gun to anyone you knew to be mentally impaired would you? (Would you?!?) How, exactly, would that determination be made? By the gun-seller's observation? Medical records (I hope not)? There are lots of people who are "mentally impaired" who pose no threat to themselves or others. Should those people lose their right to own a gun? I would hope that a gun seller would not sell a gun to someone he/she did not feel comfortable selling it to. I'm not sure that they have that luxury, though...but I don't know the answer to that. Otherwise, since medical records are protected by privacy laws, and most people selling guns don't usually have certification as a mental health professional, background checks are probably the best we have. I suppose we could make everyone pass a mental health evaluation before purchasing a gun, but then we'd have NAMI up in arms....would that qualify as "irony" for an organization that would tend toward the liberal side to fight for the right of mentally ill individuals to own guns? (Heh...) linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

I totally agree with that. I don't think it should matter whether there's an open container in the car....only if the driver is over the legal limit. If ya' want to have a beer on the way home from work, it shouldn't be against the law, imho, unless your BAC is over the legal limit in your state. But, unfortunately, it is. Having an open container in the car is a separate issue from drunk driving, at least in AR. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Yeah...I'd think the speeding ticket woulda' cost more. Speeding and an open container??? $500 fine. I think they were good to ya. -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

I've not seen or heard anything about this at all. While I think there are some dangers to a lot of "natural" and "alternative" medicines, I don't think it needs FDA regulation or redefinition as "medicine." People can make choices. If ya' want to use Ginseng and feel more comfortable with a person with some knowledge of herbal supplements (but very little of human physiology, biochemistry, pathology and the like), then go for it. It's your health. Realistically, I think such regulation would be next to impossible. Where in the world could lines be drawn. What about massage, for instance. What about protein supplements recommended by a trainer? I'm betting that this is a huge exaggeration or simply a group trying to kindle their fire.... -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

For a child to give of herself like that is wonderful. What a beautiful little girl....inside and out. :) linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Isn't one too many? It took me a minute just to find two: one in 1987, another in 1996. They passed the firearms bill in 1997. Makes it kinda tough to say that gun control has had an effect. Yes. One is too many, imho. But addressing the problem with ineffective changes isn't a good solution. linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

Well, it hasn't yet, has it? I don't know. There hasn't been a mass shooting in England since they passed theirs, has there? Say what you want about increased violence, etc., if you're looking for an effect on mass shootings, you've got one. How frequent were the mass shootings before the English lost their guns? -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

and you're in the middle of your long, hard road.... Sometimes it seems like it'll never end, and while it really doesn't end per se, it gets to be a lot more fun and less overwhelming. AND it's really cool when you see your dreams start to materialize. Hang in there! Keep up the good work. ...and Punk's getting around better. Thanks! :) linz -- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail