BJean

Cranberry juice: good for your kidneys, bad for your keyboard. drat! Cleo's, I saw an Obama bumper sticker the other day and was so shocked I almost flagged him down to shake his hand.

Poor Republicans in Texas. For governor they get to choose between Kay Bailey Hutchison and the gawd-awful Perry. They're duking it out on the airwaves and it is hilarious but sad at the same time. I am sure there are some blue pockets but they aren't in my 'hood. Sorry you had to give up your card group. I find it good for my brain. But I sure do get tired of hearing some of the women talking Rush Limbaugh bull$hite.

And loserbob, you first. If you don't get killed or maimed, I'll be outspoken too. LOL

Cleo's, having that right next door is sorta frightening. It feels to me like they're a ticking time bomb. Loserbob: That's the problem with most of us (especially me.) We bite our tongue. We know that they will most probably go off and they're freakishly angry so we avoid confrontation. We should all become more outspoken I think because they seem to think their ideology is what the majority of Americans want. And they are wrong. But if we don't step it up, they will continue to believe that our president only represents a minority.

Right Devana! Cleo's you're so politically savvy. I have to keep my political leanings covert. I'd get thrown out of the neighborhood if my friends here found out how progressive I am. It's frustrating and exhausting trying to keep a lid on it.

Tonight at the Bridge table, I kidded my partner about writing her bid on the palm of her hand. You could have heard a pin drop. She is the only other person in our 3 table group who is a Democrat. She's as quiet about it as I usually am. We were thinking of making our own group but we can't seem to find enough people to complete one table, much less three.

Oh you bet, Devana! It'll be even more impressive with a Canadian contingent. Cleo's I don't belong to any political groups. I will definitely consider the coffee party group. I'm in Texas and it is almost lethal to speak anything but right wing where I am.

You have to spoon feed me information. Dinos in the group? What's a dino? I mean other than the obvious Dino Blanche Lincoln.

Wish we lived in the same town. We could form our own Coffee group. We could be as militant as the tea baggers, doncha think?

patty was speaking hypothetically I believe when she said: "Now that the gov. has everyone on their plan and the nation is socialized medically, they will be the ones controlling your medical decisions instead. What's the difference who makes those decisions?" Huh? You're saying that we might have a choice between the government offering us insurance to cover our medical care and private insurers? Why would anyone choose private insurers if they had the choice? Private insurance companies are motivated to keep us from getting any kind of medical treatment or medications so that they can continue to make billions and billions of dollars. The government would not be similarly motivated. They are motivated to help the people in this country be as healthy as possible. We're all taxpayers and pay into the system and besides if we all die from inadequate health care, there will be no government. It's a no brainer. If you want us to believe that you can't see that, then it seems more like you just aren't being honest. I've read your posts and you seem intelligent enough to understand what is very uncomplicated logic about motivation and self-interest. I think you're just on the Republican bandwagon - the party of NO! The obstructionist party. The party that the insurance companies can depend on.

I love the bumper sticker: Tea Parties for for little girls and their imaginary friends. I love the ideas of the Coffee Party movement.

But, our 'deeds' , or actions and things that we do, will not 'save' us. It's our faith in Jesus that does that. Yup, like I said, that's what some people believe.

Well if that is what it takes for us to get universal health care in America, then it's fine by me. I just don't agree that the picture you paint is anything we can count on. It's been so long since Americans didn't have insurance coverage to cover all health care costs, people have forgotten what it is like to just pay as you go for your doctor visits and simple medications. If we had kept that system, insurance coverage simply to cover catastrophic health care costs, things wouldn't have become so convoluted in the U.S. It has taken since the 50s for our health care system to become the hideous monster that it is today. Now you have to pay through the nose for coverage that is controlled by people who stand to make money if they deny you coverage. How good is that for your health? loserbob, we have the kind of coverage in our company that you talk about - where you must have 4 or more employees to get group coverage. But they still won't insure my husband and me. Studying successful health care systems that other countries have would be a good thing. But Americans are so afraid of "socialized medicine" they are not open to any meaningful solution, much less something that might be universal in nature. And you have the insurance companies to thank. They have our legislators in their pockets and they never miss a beat putting out a load of crap when a plan is being discussed that doesn't include them making billions of dollars off us.

Me too hummingbird! Neener,neener. But according to some, that's all you have to do. And you are quite right Cleo's. And the Pope is infallible and other stuff. As for terminology, patty, religion can be interpreted as: any systen of belief, worship or conduct; a state of mind; any object of conscientious regard and pursuit and more. It can mean denomination or church or it can mean personal belief in a divine superhuman power or powers to be obeyed or worshiped. Or even to unite publically with a church. Just because you use a word to describe one thing in your everyday pontificating vernacular doesn't preclude someone from using it in a different context for it to be correct. I used it appropriately, just perhaps not in the same way you normally use it.

There are many religions that believe that they have the answers but respect other religions and accept the fact that the others may have it right as well. Catholics, for instance, totally respect the sacraments of other churches. It affects many things relating to their members and how they treat people of other religions within the confines of their church, as well as the way their members are expected to behave in relation to other churches' sacraments. Not so with Southern Baptists, for instance. They believe that they are the ONLY ones with the answers and the ONLY ones who are getting into heaven. If you are not baptized in their church, you're doomed. Unless that ideology has changed since I was baptized there many years ago. Having participated up close and personal in both of those churches, I can tell you which one I believe has a better chance of being right. I watched Catholics go about the community doing good works for anyone in need. I watched the Baptists very vocally criticize the non-Baptist community members and take care of their own. It was a dramatic contrast in community service, love and generosity and being good because it's the right thing to do. Versus doing something simply because you're looking out for your own hide and hell-bent (if you'll pardon the expression) on getting into heaven. Please don't think that I am saying that all Catholic churches are good and all Baptist churches are bad. I'm merely using those two experiences of mine to show the contrast between them, as I experienced them.

I grew up (mostly) in Oklahoma and it used to be a far different place than it seems to be now. They have some of the biggest tools in congress. And they have turned all extreme in their religious and political views and they keep electing complete nincompoops. It has always been a rather conservative state in some ways, but it used to be a Democratic state. Some very wonderful prominent and effective politicians in Washington hailed from Okahoma many years ago. I have been gone for many years, living all over the country, traveling abroad, etc. So I am not sure when this faction of right wing poliltics took over the state. But it is embarrassing and I hate telling people that I went to school there these days.

You know Cleo's I've been so frustrated by the whole tea party b.s. I've not even stopped to consider why they were doing it because I assumed they were just ignorant. But you are absolutely correct. It makes total sense. They think they are covering the bases of abortion, guns and homosexuality and rather than owning up to that, they're calling it an aversion to big government and taxes. And its meshing well with the Republican politicoes. I do know that the extreme right wings' first and foremost agenda is to make abortion illegal again. They're also fervent gun toters and do not approve of gays, especially out of the closet gays. Thanks for waking me up a little. I've been in the fog of shock over their behavior. I also know that in many cases they are appalled that we have a president who can be considered black. So all of these things have them so riled up, they're quick to embrace those things that sound more politically correct instead of being shouted down for the ugly discriminatory beliefs that they harbor.

patty why do you keep saying that Democrats don't want what most Americans want? The majority party in Congress were duly elected by Americans. The president was elected by Americans. They are what the voters want - not more of the same garbage that the Republicans dished out during the Bush years. You don't really want what the Republicans represent. Unless you are a very wealthy person. And you sure don't sound like a wealthy person. Like many people, you're just completely swayed by their P.R. campaign that does nothing for the majority of Americans. They represent the very, very wealthy in this country. They represent the corporations. The corporations who make sure that our congressional representatives become wealthy either by accepting money from their corporate lobbyists or by other means. Whatever it takes to buy their votes. Most of us are no longer being duped. We learned a huge lesson during the Bush years - lessons that we learned from previous Republican administrations but had mostly forgotten during the Clinton years. America can't stand more Republican domination and this president and congress better figure out a way to get America back on its' feet and grow this country in the right direction, or we stand to lose everything that we hold dear as Americans.

Devana you've explained part of the situation in America very well. And the reason Americans are so afraid of the idea of socialism is because the Repulicans have for decades run a very effective scare campaign. In recent history, before the current president was elected, Americans were duped by a corrupt administration and majority Republican congress for the better part of 8 years. Then the voters got a belly full and voted the opposition party into power. But that didn't shut the Republicans up. They didn't want to take a back seat to a Democratic majority, who were elected fair and square. So the fear tactics were stepped up in intensity. And many Americans, being the easily swayed, fickle people that they are, listened. So that's why you see people posting absurd stuff here on LBT about "socialism," "tea bag parties," "birthers" and the rest. But this is only the most obvious problem. The bigger problem with getting things done for us in Washington has to do with the way the system of our government is actually run. What most often winds up happening in Washington is that our representatives wind up representing the wealthy and huge corporations instead of their constitutents. Now one might ask why they would do this. Afterall they are elected to make sure that they represent their constituents in Washington to help improve America for them. Unfortunately the way our politics works in America has provided an excellent opportunity for those representatives to become rich by taking money from various wealthy sources to represent them when they vote. It's done in the back alleys but everyone knows it. And your everyday American voter only provides them their salary and benefits. We can't compete with the lobbyists and their abililty to funnel millions of dollars into the hands of our congressional representatives. And why don't we change the system? The only way we can do that is through those same representatives who are being bribed by the wealthy. What chance do we have? You might say that we could use our voting power to throw those people out who aren't representing us well. But that isn't the answer. There will only be corruptible people to replace them. So we're screwed. And until we demand that the system be changed and our president and congressional leaders become incentivized in some way, to do what is right for the country - for the majority of Americans - we can't be surprised how well this system works for large corporations and the wealthy in our country. But that still doesn't excuse us from being so easily manipulated by scare tactics. I hope you don't think all Americans are so gullible. Millions of Americans know the score and are every bit as frustrated as you can imagine.

The Republicans in our congress who are behaving in such a dispicable manner are an embarrassment to all Americans.

Providing insurance for our employees definitely makes us think twice before hiring anyone! And bob, we pay our employees premiums for the best insurance we can provide, but the same company will not insure my husband or me because of preexisting conditions. Cool, eh? Tort reform is a slap across the face to freedom loving Americans. Republicans and insurance companies would like for all of us to think that it is an answer to the exorbitant cost of health care due to frivolous lawsuits. Frivolous lawsuits are not the problem. I think Cleo's article hit the nail on the head. The problem is the number of genuiine malpractice cases and what does that tell you? That in a lot of cases, we are paying doctors and/or hospitals big bucks for health care that is dangerous to our health. When a doctor or hospital causes a horrible loss to someone, through negligence or malicious endangerment or just plain ineptitude, and someone loses their life or limb or ability to function, we should have the power to seek redress. Just think what it would be like if doctors and hospitals didn't have to pay for their gross errors!

You two are the best. Har!

phil, stupidity is extremely frustrating if you are trying to communicate or have a rational debate. I can deal with stupidity though, if someone is able to understand logic and learn. If they keep posting illogical opinions and do not learn from anything they read, then I can't handle stupidity of that magnitude without becoming extremely frustrated. And that's when I post things that I usually regret because they are so harsh.

Ah, ah, ah, AH-CHOOOOO!!!!!

patty: "Could it be that the answer those good christian's were looking for was not the answer God was willing to give? When our children ask for money to buy something, and we say no or wait, it may seem to them that we can't give them what they are asking us for, but in fact we can, it's just that we understand that to give them the money would mean harm for them in some way, so we don't give them what they ask for. God is like that,too. "When it comes to God then, do you really know him and does he know you? Do you have a relationship with him that warrants God answering your prayers? Or is God pretty distant, pretty much just a concept in your life? With God, when the person is actually a child of God, when the person belongs to God, he knows them and hears their prayers. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me...my sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." "I believe that God allows life to go on and if prayers from his children go up to him, he hears them and answers them." So if we are believers and pray to God for anything, salvation, healing, winning the gold, whatever, he hears us. But if we don't have the right kind of relationship with him, he doesn't listen or deliver? Except if we are asking for salvation, of course. Honestly I understand everything you're saying. But it makes no sense. None whatever because you (or someone else here on earth) are the ones who are deciding whether or not God has answered your prayers or those of someone else. If you've determined that someone has a good relationship with God, then you'll agree that God's probably listened and whatever the outcome, it is God's will. But if you decide that someone doesn't have a good enough relationship with God, then that person shouldn't expect his prayers to be answered. Or perhaps even listened to. The God you've created in your mind is not what the Bible promises. My God is within me. I don't have to justify the extent of my relationship to Him, myself or anyone else. I do not expect a heavenly being to pass judgement on me or my prayers for them to be worthwhile. The answers all come from me. Not an entity that some church lady conjured up for me.