BJean

You know I'm kidding you, right? Your posts are always so cool and gramatically correct I couldn't resist. Please jump on me when you see something like that. I do post fast and miss typos and stuff sometimes. Everyone does. You're the least guilty! That's why it was so tempting.

Yeah, phil, an oil spill there would make those beautiful beaches look more like Cocoa beach. Just kidding!!! That's where we went a lot for a quick dip in the ocean when we lived in Orlando. It's not that bad. Not beautiful like Sanibel, but not that bad.

Great rebuttal, Cleo's! but I gotta ask... "stook"?

yes, Cleo's it sure does feel like our bank is trying to pull a fast one. I'm definitely protesting that ridiculous fee. And it isn't the first time they've done something like this. The last one they had to refund on checking accounts when they got caught. And this is one of the largest banks in the nation.

phil my biggest concern is environmental when I think about drilling for oil. I can't for the life of me understand the kind of thinking that says it doesn't matter what it does to the coastline or pristine areas inland, just so long as the oil companies are allowed to drill. It's always all about money for the Republicans.

No kidding! I think no matter which side of the political spectrum you're on, it's a bit of a waiting game. There's no telling what kind of fall out we'll have to deal with on all fronts. Politics, you can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em!

Drill, baby drill, drill, baby drill, eh? We may need to drill baby so that we can have enough oil reserves to ensure that OPEC doesn't keep us captive with their outrageous oil prices. But remember our own oil companies aren't in it for the good of the U.S. They're in the business to make as much money as possible. And they will gouge Americans too. What we seriously need are alternative energy sources. That's what I want this president to work on. That's what will provide the most benefit to our country, both environmentally and for the creation of new jobs.

Still wondering if that's what you meant to do, patty, when you defended the extremist "militia" who were arrested as just being disgruntled about the Obama tactics that you like to call "socialistic." :frown:

Funniest thing, we're looking forward to the November elections too. Especially if your side keeps up with the kind of stuff they've been spewing. :frown:

Thanks Phil, you're one funny dude. I got a business credit card statement yesterday for a mastercard account. They now have instituted a fee for any charges that are on the account that you haven't paid off but it isn't the usual percentage like Leigha is talking about. I don't have the term for it in front of me but it is something that they can arbitrarily set a number for. It is a random additional fee and they call it something that is so obvious a scam that it is ridiculous. It's in addition to all the other fees and percentages they have used in the past. And it is a relatively big number. So I paid the damn thing off. They're certainly incentivizing us to become an all cash country. And that ain't necessarily a bad thing. Especially on personal accounts that are strictly for luxury items. But sometimes using a card has been a good way to keep a small business from beccoming cash poor when sales are down. And if you have to go to the doctor and can't pay cash for a large number like $14,500.00, being able to put it on a card can be very helpful from time to time. (That's a portion of the amount I will need to pony up to get my band converted to a sleeve. It's the part of the charges that I need to pay "up front" prior to the procedure.)

So you're claiming them as some of your own, patty?

Well I didn't think that was much of a stretch Chris, in light of your comment. Think about it - church rallies for Obama - making you feel nutty - nut jobs tossing bombs in churches.... not so much of a stretch really. It was said rather tongue in cheek actually because I thought you might want to think about what you had said. Obvioulsy I was wrong and you're not a raging extremist. Oops, tongue might still be firmly planted in cheek.

yes kartman, I do find it interesting and too bad. HappyC, thank you for your post. I've been trying to tell people that too from my own vantage point (which is not Muslim) but coming from you, it is much more powerful!

I'm wretching. Doesn't it just make you want to join her faith? Certainly explains why she embraces the extremist right wing rethoric and hangs on for dear life.

Uh oh Leigha, you're trying to bring sense and logic to the debate. That's where the breakdown starts. Because for some it is just the argument that they want. They don't understand the logic or the sense of the health care reform debate. And they do not want to. Don't cloud the discussion with the real merits of it. Just be loud and use all the buzz words that you can think of - even reaching as far back as the Reagan years. That's what Republicans do best - slogans and rethoric! Truth and logic be damned. Begins to feel a lot like banging your head against the wall.

Dang, a few months ago I got my Droid. Shoulda waited for the iphone. Hated to go back on my contact with Verizon. This business and technology stuff... it'll drive ya nuts.

Well yes, congress was controlled by republicans in Clinton era. So they are totally responsible for everything good that happened when Clinton was in office... Well, I don't think so. The president is not super powerful when it comes to legislation, but he does have some power and Clinton did manage to get some things done even with the people who tried their level best to get him thrown out of office. When I think of all the money they spent and the ungodly way they handled the Lewinsky affair, it makes me nuts. :-)

God didn't write anything so nothing is straight from the word of God. Everything that is described as God's word has been revealed to us through a human being. The Bible is a wonderful book. But it does not contain words STRAIGHT from God. I don't understand how someone's faith is true when they assert things that are not true. Your faith would be more impressive if you saw things for what they really are instead of how you wish they were.

Nope Chris I can't tell you that there weren't rallies or sermons in churches in support of Obama on election night. Kinda makes you want to toss a bomb in there, doesn't it? You're right, of course it happens on both sides. But Christian and Catholic churches are generally conservative and they have very selfish motives for supporting Republicans. Some Christian churches support Democratic candidates because they have poor and working class congregations. I certainly appreciate you teling us about getting driven nuts on election night by rallies for Obama on election night. It's always good to see both sides of a discussion.

"and its down 56 cents today? whats your point?" Really? You don't get it? My point is that investors are not worried. They're still buying and selling AT&T stock. If they were scared, AT&T stock would be dropping like a rock. Well, for some 56 cents sounds like a huge drop, but it's all a game. People will simply invest in it when it's down. Hurrah for AT&T. They're geniuses.

tdsfl1, we have to pay for the war in Iraq and the military presence we have in Afghanistan. Also that charming little Bush tax cut fiasco was another joke on Americans. Republicans always seem to refuse to raise taxes (although the senior Bush had no choice) and they always bellow about "read my lips, no new taxes" but it has to be done when they run up the deficit like the Bush administration and Republican congress did. Historically they know the Democrats will do the right thing. Then after the Dems right the sinking ship, Republicans run a loud hateful campaign about Democrats being all about raising taxes. So the Republicans get back in control and do whatever it takes to line their own pockets while they're in office and mainstream Americans pay the price. It's appears to be a chain of events that is inevitable.

"Shares in AT&T, which is based in Dallas, climbed 7 cents to $26.22 in afternoon trading Friday." Guess investors are really scared, eh?

patty if the government didn't step in and regulate cars, roads and traffic, there would be chaos in the streets and many more people would be killed in traffic accidents. Some drivers are maniacs and road hogs and drive while intoxicated and we need rules to protect American lives. Business regulation in the United States makes sense too. Not all business owners are trustworthy. Many of them will do anything to make a buck, and I mean ANYTHING. They will take unfair advantage of their workers and treat them like dogs. They will lie, cheat and steal from their customers. There is no end to the kinds of really bad behavior that corporations and business people are guilty of. Someone needs to oversee them for the good of the country and its' citizens. Having no government oversight promotes corporate bad behavior and problems like Enron become all too common. Americans who worked hard all their lives to save for their future lost everything to the greedy bastards at Enron. That's not fair and regulations can help to prevent those kinds of predatory business practices. I totally understand the things you say about freedom to make money and run your own company without government interference. And if businesses had a conscience and conducted work fairly, there would be no need for government oversight. But the fact is, people tend to be consumed by greed and selfishness and they will take advantage of others to make a buck when the opportunity presents itself. I am sorry you can't understand this. Your negative thoughts about the government seem to be clouding your sense of fairness for all, to the extent that you are favoring the capitalist elite over regular Americans trying to eke out a living.

patty: "The extent you will go to defend your government astounds me!" The extent you will go to defend greed and corruption astounds me!

Oh yeah, all murders are crazy. *roll eyes* Oh but wait... you now have changed your verbiage from "crazy" to not "in their right mind and thinking straight" what tha? There is a big difference between those two concepts and like with the term christianity, there is usually more than one meaning for words. But a person isn't allowed to use a word in one context of their post one way and then arbitrarily decide afterwards that they didn't mean it that way, because what they really meant was something different. At least not if one is to read their posts and have them mean much. You can change the meaning easily, with no confusion, if you just say something like... what I meant to say is that people who commit murder are momentarily not in their right mind and thinking straight instead of pretending that the word crazy means: momentarily not in ones' right mind and thinking straight. So your religion or faith in christianity the way you say the Bible defines it, does not require you to do anything but believe, eh? Then why do you feel it is incumbent upon you to go about witnessing to others all the time? Just a personal choice I guess. Hasn't a thing to do with the Bible or Jesus requiring that from you so you can make your way into heaven, right? I'll be real honest with you. If I had never heard of Jesus, Christianity or the Bible, and you were the only source of information on the subject, I would run in the totally opposite direction. Because many of the things you say sound completely crazy. Or I guess I should I say that you sound, momentarily, like you're not in your right mind or thinking straight.