Welfare

Welfare should be broke down into categories. Families who need a little assitance and those who need a lot. Example A: The average family may need a little help with groceries and/or daycare so they can better their lives, go to school, and so on, but usually these are the families that qualify for no support or so little it really does not enable them to get to a point where NONE is needed... The limits and requirements should be changed to include helping these families for a limited time on a case by case basis. Example again: Family of 5, husband employed FT at decent job, mother goes to school, need daycare for 3 children. They have a yearly income of 25,000-30,000 aprox. She needs to go to school for 2-3 years to complete a degree to enable her to help her husband and not require ANY assitance, but right now, cannot afford to do so due to high cost of daycare. Said family should qualify for a)reduced rate daycare or b) no cost daycare and possibly other assistance depnding on the case FOR THE TIME SHE (OR HE) IS IN SCHOOL. If this person were to drop out or no longer attend, they should lose said benefit and depending on reason for no longer attending, no longer be eligible period. Example B: Single mother who makes minimum wage at McDs. She needs assistance paying her rent, utilities and groceries plus daycare. I think that families (and single parents) in ths situation should be required to be in a "Rehab Program". Take all the low income housing and turn it into areas for this rehab. No bills to be paid, FS for groceris. These ppl MUST attend job training or career traingin of some kind and prove that they are talking 2/3 (Minimum of 1 third depending on other expenses such as car pmts or gas)of their income and saving it. PLus they must attend, parenting classes, budget and financial training and "Life Lessons" training on thigs as sinle as checking accoutn managemtn and bill paying. They will get 1 yr of this, and by the end of that year they should have completed sufficient traingin satiafactorily to gradiuate to the limited assistance for that limited time than off. If this is not accomplished they lose all right to benefits. Meanwhile, anyone on this rehab must regularly prove that they are A)Drug free, B)Fully legal citizens and C) Not popping out more kids that will slow the process of rehabbing down. I think drug tests should be a requirement and anyone who fails should lose their benefits permamnently. I do not hitnk cash should ever be dispensed, if you qualify for help poaying utilities or otherwise, the assitance should be sent straigh to the company. Furthermore a reasonable time limit to advance beyond needing assistance should be placed, but only if there is truly enough help to GET PPL BEYOND NEEDING IT. Which right now is not the case. Paternity should be determined or completely revoked. As in, if you cannot reach the babys daddy for example to prove his paternity and collect child support, he automatically loses all paternal rights. If he should ever come forward and try to fight for said rights, then he can be charged all past child support and jailed if unable to pay it. I think that teen moms who NEED the assistance should be automatically enrolled in said "Rehab" so they may complete an education and provide for their child, some do not need the assitance tho as they have family and/or sousal support, rare case, but they are there. Child support was made to help SUPPORT the child, so it should go to the mother, however, if it can be proved that it is not being used for that purpose (I think accounts should have to be turned over... Proof that bills are paid, child has medical insurance and so on) then it should go straight to a fund for the childs education or an agency that will make sure it is applied where it is needed. If the father can prove he is providing for the child (such as in shared custody) and his expenses for said child are no less than the mothers I do not think he should be obligated by law, maybe morally if the mother makes much less than he, but if neither is spending more, than neither should have to hand money over to the other. My little welfare plan has flaws, I know but in my defense I have not hammered out details, as I am not running for president... Yet. LOL It will be in my campaign tho. LOL

Sneaky Marines!

Look closely...



Do you see it?



How about now?



If a Muslim sees a naked woman he is supposed to kill himself... Sneaky Marines!!

Tales of American Spirit

These tales make your American spirit pulsate... When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of "empire building" by George Bush. He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return." It became very quiet in the room.
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Then there was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room saying "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?" A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?" Once again, dead silence. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, "Whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English." He then asked, "Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?" Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, "Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German." You could have heard a pin drop ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE... A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour. Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris New Roman by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. "You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready." The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it." "Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France !" The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained. "Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in '44 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find any damn Frenchmen to show it to."

What do you do all day?

What Do You Do All Day? A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pyjamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pyjamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?" She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?" "Yes," was his incredulous reply. She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

Stupid Wars?

I want to vent my frustration about the way we react to things like the conflict in Iraq in this day and age. I can somewhat understand ppl who say that war is stupid and Bush made a lot of mistakes and how we could have done something different. No, no, wait, I can't. Are you crazy? If our kids go through life hearing and seeing that the world is messed up and all anybody does is complain and say "Well, if I were in charge I would do this," and yet sees no one get off their duff and do anything about it, that is exactly what they are going to do as well. Nothing. And enough is enough with trashing on the president and his decisions. Are you going to sit there and tell me you don't support the war and restoration efforts bc you think it was a bad idea? Well, I dare you, I double dog dare you, to say that to a mother who has lost her child defending this country, a veteran who has lost a limb, or a child who hasa lost a parent. Personally, I believe that you don't mess with the US of A bc we will mess you up and we should have gone over, dropped a bomb and said "Remember Hiroshima? Merry Freakin Christmas! Any other takers?" but thats just the redneck in me talkin'. I believe that despite any mis-steps, President Bush has has done the best he could under the circumstances and that pulling out too early will destroy the insurance we are trying to provide future generations of our soldiers, so we don;t have to do this again in 10 years, as we have for the last what? 30? Furthermore, I have children and if they ever decided they wanted to serve in the military (which my son wants to join the Marines) and they go to war to defend opur country so we can sleep in peace, I don;t want anybody undermining the fact that they put their lives on the line day in and day out so you can sit on your lazy bum and say that war is stupid. What if our ancestors who fought the war against Engladn thought it was a bad idea? They were ill-prepared and had nothing to fight with and if anyone were to get away with saying "To heck with this" it probly would have been them. But where would that have left us? Under Englands thumb! What about the Civil War? I suppose the war that aided abolishing slavery was a bad idea too? World War I, II? Fancy speaking German? Why was fighting those tyrants our civic duty and fighting these new ones is not? Do you not remember the horrifying images of our WTC crashing down? The ppl who leapt to their deaths in terror? The aftermath of parents seeking their children and children seeking their parents?? The civic heroes who dies trying to save lives?? Apparently you have or you would not be thinking that the effort we are making to ensure this history does not repeat itself is a bad idea. When the Murrah building in OKC was bombed we caught that terrorist and made sure he would not get the opportuntiy to do that again, and we are supposed to let these terrorists go free? Instead of sitting and complaining about the war, try your hand at going over there and living it with our troops. I highly doubt they think it is stupid. They know firsthand how dangerous these ppl can be when unchecked. Why don't you use all the energy you waste at hiding in your house on your safe little couch that the soldiers that you criticise (and yes, criticising the war is criticising them) make safe for you at sending letters, care packages and praying for their safe return home. That would be a much more feective and worthy passtime than complaining. Furthermore, if you can't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them!

Transcending Women

So I go to the store the other day, and when the girl at the counter checked my ID she made a comment about needing to renew her own license. I responded politely by saying that I too, needed a new one, as the one I had did not show my married name. She looks at me, aghast and says "Oh, you don't have to do that anymore!" in a tone that implied she found changing ones name to be barbaric or something. I very calmly replied that I wanted to. She sniffed and said scathingly "Not me, I would not change who I was for someone else." It took all I had to not smack her. She continued to say that she had just recently found this out and had decided she was not changing her name for anyone or anything. I could not contain the quietly disdainful tone that crept into my voice as I replied, "Well, I am proud to be married to the man I married and I am honored to take his name!" and I walked out with my haughty little nose in the air.
Now, I could understand wanting, as a woman, to pass your surname down also, as in hypehnating it, but to just assume that your self will change when taking the name of the man you chose to marry is just plain ignorant! Now, I am all for womens lib and whatnot, but, it is a mans honor and priviledge to give a woman his name in marriage! He is giving her his protection and showing honor for her by (and you libs are gonna love this) claiming her as his and showing the world that this is the woman he chose to love, honor and respect! Why when we started fighting for our rights did we start trying to take our mens rights away?! Am I the only one who sees the insanity in this? Yes, by all means go out there and make the same money as a man doing the same job, but leave them their dignity for goodness sakes!! So you keep your name to preserve your identity, what are you going to do, draw straws as to which name the children get? Or will it be "Oh, you take this one honey, I will get the next one!" How does that make sense? You know the truly sad part is women spend their lives looking for the perfect man, you know, the Knight in Shining Armor (or Knight in Shining Lexus) who opens doors, would throw his coat over a puddle for you, love, respect and honor you as you deserve. However, why should men have to honor this old fashioned image of what men should be when we do not have to honor the old fashioned view of what women should be? Why is it that when we earned the right to vote and equal pay, we stopped being proud of just being women, the heart of the family and a source of pride and joy to her husband and children? What happened to us loving, repecting and honoring our men? Even those of us who are married! Is it perhaps that in this day and age we don't value our men by the men they are, hard-working, honest and dependable, but by what he is worth on the stock market or compared to a Giorgio Armani ad? I married my husband because he makes me feel safe, loved, protected and honored. I feel pride in being his wife and I hope to always be able to support him in all he wishes to do, because he and my children are my world, they mean everything to me. The happiness I get from being his wife and their mommy could never be measured in dollars and cents and no career in the world would make me feel more fulfilled. Why is that now considered to be a bad thing? Why will some woman, somewhere, think I need my head checked because I say this?? I have nothing against being your own person and doing what you need to do, but when you make the choice to get married you are renouncing being your parents child and some of your own individuality and embrace being a mans wife. You are saying you have been all you can be individually and you are ready for the next step of being a wife and mother. which involves being linked permanently to another person/persons, namely your husband and children. You are accepting that you are now ready to be the woman in the shadows, (that chances are your mother was) that woman that if she is not there the world will cease to turn. You are not accpeting fading into nameless, faceless abyss, but you are accepting that possibly (probably) no one but your husband, children and maybe other women like you will know everything you do and get no public credit for and you are also accepting that you may be known as Sammys ,om or James' wife. That is the way it is, the way it has been for centuries and the way it will continue to be good Lord willing, because it is a selfless act of love to be happy in the shadows and proud of the recognition your husband and children get as opposed to always needing it for yourself. I once had my own recognition and the pressure that came with it and I am blessed to be in my annonimity as my husbands wife and childrens mother. Ihave not ceased to exist though. I have transcended and am proud of it.

Husbands 2

What is it about men that when they get married they are rendered incapable of recognizing their own clothing? How is it they can stand in the closet and stare at their neatly pressed favorite shirt and yell, "Honey, where is my shirt?" Why do we, as their wives, have to go rescue them from the black hole of the closet? We refuse to baby our children this way, why do the husbands get to be spoiled? Why is it suddenly they cannot find the kitchen, pick up their clothes or do anything else they may have been able to do pre-marriage? My husband was quite the absolute neat freak and was capable of cleaning, doing his own laundry and even managing to feed himself, and yet since we have been together he is not able to do any of these things anymore. In fact, I believe and he admits that he would wander around half naked and starving if it were not for me. LOL He cannot find anything, including the dirty laundry hamper to put his dirty clothes in and can stand in front of a stack of clean underwear and swera he has none. Where he used to be quite tuned into his surroundings and could catch the beat of his favorite song from 2 miles away, now he can be right next to a screaming baby and magically not hear a thing. He had no problem managing to know when to get his mother flowers on mothers day or a phone call on her birthday, but now, if I don't remind him of his own, he would forget!
And more to the point, what is it about the marriage that makes us suddenly willing to baby-sit an adult male? Is there some subliminal message in marriage vows that renders men unhousebroken and women some combo of washer woman, Geisha girl and secretary? I have made this discovery since being married. It would appear that I have signed a legal, binding contract to be husbands slave forever. LOL TO be honest tho, it's not that bad. I have to give him a lot of credit for some things. He may not be able to find his own socks without a detailed map and a guide, but he can manage to find a store to buy me Hot Wheels trucks when I have a bad day. (He missed "Buy her flowers" day at the men-training-to-be-husbands camp ;D) He will take me to a concert of an artist he hates because I needed a night out. He finds me odd little treasures that no one else would even realise I would like, but he knows. He downloads sweet songs for my ringtone (even tho he changes it to "Crazy Train" every now and then LOL) and knows when to say "Yes, dear" and when to not say anything. And besides, I am not perfect. I have been known to color loads of laundry pink by accident, char his supper instead of stopping at well done and I hate making the bed every day. The important part is that despite our little quirks and idisyncrasies, we love each other and agreed to do so till death do us part. My Lord, thats a lot of years of finding his socks...