Very OT - Fahrenheit 9/11

Kalera Stratton wrote:
...Smart people try to think of ways to make them an asset,
stupid people think "it's not my problem, why should I care?"

It's EVERYONE'S problem.

I'm a capitalist through and through, not a socialist, BTW.

Smart capitalists realize that a well-cared-for and well-educated child
grows up to be a savvy, wage-earning consumer. Keeping families
well-fed and off the streets is an investment in the future. )

Arondelle
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net

For those of you who don't think that the Religious Right wants to deny
access to birth control, I would advise you to read this:

http://www.prevention.com/cda/featur...1-7342,00.html

Apparently, hormonal birth control devices, like the Pill, cause
so-called silent abortions....

Arondelle
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net

Thanks, Kathy...I'll send the message on to DH, too. He was laid off a month before
DD was born, and I shouldered the responsibility for making ends meet. I couldn't
get a second job because of my health, and DH couldn't work because he was home
taking care of DD (childcare would have eaten up more than he made...we crunched the
numbers). The health care bills and insurance premiums got so much, that I couldn't
make ends meet anymore. We were lucky for a while, in that my parents could send us
money now and then for groceries and they bought diapers for us, but when I tried to
apply for WIC and food stamps, our income was $50 a month too much. Whatever. So,
that's when DH made the supreme sacrifice to join the Naval Reserve. He swore up and
down from the day I met him that he didn't ever want to join the Navy, because of his
father (long dysfunctional story that I won't burden you with). But now he found no
other alternative to give us the extra income. He worked hard, but after a year or
so, it wasn't enough anymore, with the rising costs of electricity and food in
Central California. So....he voluntarily went active duty, just in time to keep us
from becoming homeless...literally two or three weeks away. We both worked for two
months, the Navy gave us an allowance for childcare, and fortunately, we had a friend
who would watch dd for merely pennies. (She wasn't there before this time, or we'd
have used her then!) That's when we moved up here. I quit my job, got unemployment
benefits, which helped immensely until DH got his promotion that made it possible to
not have to worry about whether we'd be able to fill up the gas tank again or if we'd
have to go without milk for a week or so.

I've never known real hunger...I have to make that clear. I always had what I needed
growing up. But DH didn't. He had to survive on bread, peanut butter and ramen for
two years. When we met, he was 5'10" and 125 pounds. When we started dating in
college, I promised him that no matter what, he would never have to go through that
again. That was 15 years ago. We're slowly making things better, but it's so so
hard. I think that social programs are important, for those people who really and
truly need them, because of things that are totally beyond their control, and YES,
even circumstances that were caused by poor judgement calls. I'm a firm believer in
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Instead of
criticizing the system, I'm more wanting to concentrate on the people that are in
need. Right now, we're going through a lean time, but we aren't lacking for
anything, so anything we have extra goes into a fund that we use to help out friends
of ours in the military who may not have enough food until the next paycheck. That's
what it's all about...community, and loving and helping others.
--
Jalynne - Keeper of the Quilt for ME club list
Queen Gypsy (snail mail available upon request)
see what i've been up to at www.100megsfree4.com/jalynne

"Kathy N-V" wrote in message
. giganews.com...
On Wed, 7 Jul 2004 15:07:48 -0400, Jalynne wrote
(in message . net):


We're completely dependent on the government, but in a totally different way
(in the
military), and we're having a hard time getting out of it. We know so many
military
families that have to get food stamps and such, and they're completely
separated from
their families, while their spouses are deployed overseas. Oh heck, I
shouldn't have
stepped into this convo...sigh.
-

You aren't dependent, you are sacrificing for all of the rest of us.
We owe you, not the other way around.

Thank you for all that you do to keep us free and safe. Our people
in military service aren't the only ones who deserve thanks - their
families do just as much to serve our nation. That anyone in the US
military would need to apply for aid of any kind is criminal, IMNSHO.

Kathy N-V

Its not about my age at all; Sooz was
actually right in labeling me like an old lady, I say it all the time. I
have old-fashioned values

I remember my "ultra" conservative 20's too. I outgrew them, and continue to
grow toward the middle of the world....thank goodness!

I thought Dr. Laura was right in all respects, and that if people only worked
harder....

Now I know that *nobody* has the corner on "right", and that I make my
decisions based on what's right for me and my family, and try to be
compassionate and supportive for those in need. I still don't like folks who
have kids before they've planned well to take care of them, but I do respect
those who do take care of the kids they do have!

The Blessed Fiddy, Patroness Saint of the Disorganized
LC in Sunny So Cal
Personality Development Specialist (Full-Time Mom!)

Sooz was
actually right in labeling me like an old lady, I say it all the time. I
have old-fashioned values

I never called you old fashioned.

I said you seemed to be a bitter, very old woman. Old fashioned is fine by me!
Bitter, angry, ancient, nasty people are not. I want that to be very clear.
You don't have old fashioned values, by the way -- you are spiritually stingy
and penurious. I think you need love in the most desperate way.
~~
Sooz

In Portland $15K a year would get you **** and shoved in it, to use a
colorful expression. You can make it work if you have roommates, which
becomes much harder if you have kids.

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay

Kathy N-V wrote:
On Wed, 7 Jul 2004 15:31:47 -0400, Carla wrote
(in message .net):


Yeah, I saw that and almost screamed. I know different areas have
different median incomes, but sheesh! I think of anyone in Chicago
trying to raise a kid on that, and it's laughable.


$15K a year _might_ cover the rent on a 2 BR. apartment in Boston.
Forget about eating or anything else. Five or ten times that would
allow you to live a middle class life, but wouldn't be excessive or
keep you in grape peeling luxury.

Kathy N-V

I can't even touch on the way our government treats its soldiers and
their families. It makes me so angry I cry.

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


Jalynne wrote:
We're completely dependent on the government, but in a totally different way (in the
military), and we're having a hard time getting out of it. We know so many military
families that have to get food stamps and such, and they're completely separated from
their families, while their spouses are deployed overseas. Oh heck, I shouldn't have
stepped into this convo...sigh.

Bingo!

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


Arondelle wrote:

Smart capitalists realize that a well-cared-for and well-educated child
grows up to be a savvy, wage-earning consumer. Keeping families
well-fed and off the streets is an investment in the future. )

Arondelle

I am confused... did you say that computers are isolating, or was that
someone else?

'cause I'm saying that in my case, computers are what prevent me from
being isolated.

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


vj wrote:
vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Kalera Stratton
:

]without my computer
]I would probably, by choice, have next to no socialization, and I would
]be OK with that but I'd be missing out. On you people. Yes, you.

i think that was what i meant.
but i can see how it could work either way.


-----------
@vicki [SnuggleWench]
(Books) http://www.booksnbytes.com
newest creations: http://www.vickijean.com/new.html
-----------
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America,
and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples,
promising liberty and justice for all.
Feel free to use the above variant pledge in your own postings.

My parents wouldn't even hang up after they told the telemarketers they
weren't interested. So the telemarketers just kept on with the spiel. I
screened a lot of their calls when I was there

Kathy K
"Dr. Sooz" wrote in message
...
Isn't it just **odd**, really, if you think about it?

The idea that we are conditioned to believe that if this bell rings in our
houses, we have to run and grab the thing. We have to be available.

It's just a HABIT. People who spent most of their lives without answering
machines have the hardest time breaking this habit (think Your Parents --
mine
are in their 70s).

Try not answering your phone, no matter what, until you Actually KNOW Who
It
Is. Do this for 2 weeks. You will break your dependence on the accursed
phone....and you will save hours of precious time that you will never get
back!

I've even had people who don't live here answer my phone on the first ring
while visiting me. I NEVER answer the phone -- not unless I'm waiting for
a
call from our doctor, or Mercury's. That is the ONLY exception.
~~
Sooz