?

.... what will you think/feel/do when OTHER meds are treated this way. YOU opened the door to this happening. What if I don't want to pay for viagra for instance. If God wanted it to go up, it would .. on its own. And YES .. it is even covered by medicaid! How about meds for the mentally ill? Or maybe I'll decide that chemo is much to big a burden on insurance companies and are driving MY rates up. If God wants you to live, you won't need chemo? Hmmm ... shoe on other foot. How will you react then? Your so called small government just got in my face. Want it in yours?

Instead of being a thorn in the side of rational republicans and preventing them from accomplishing anything in Congress? The Republican Party is fractured right now because there are two distinct factions within that party.

Yes? No? Why? If you don't mind, post your current self-definition (conservative Dem, liberal, traditional Republican, Tea Partier, whatever)

I think they should but it's not my party they're messing with. It IS my country they're messing with.

Do people really not know how this country works? Do they not recognize that our government is a shell (Democratic PROCESS) that is populated with people that WE the citizens ELECT?

Hate politicians but don't hate the government that is set up for YOU and ME to run through elections!

Does anyone have a better REAL system of government where they still have a voice?

What will you do/think/feel when Allah arrives with God? Or did you not think about that?

Rights in this country do not belong to one party, to one religion, to one race. If they don't belong to ALL then they really belong to NONE. What YOU have a right to do to others, OTHERS also have a right to do to you.

Generic 'you' and 'others' .. includes all of us.

This is under politics because it's about LAWS.

I watched this three times to really take it all in.

What price do we as citizens pay for, and what are the effects on us of political "gossip & biased speculative" news?

Is it true?

Is it necessary?

(Is it kind? I don't think this is applicable in politics anymore?)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487041...

I'm so tired of political gossip (crazy *** things presented as fact when it's really opinion). BIG difference and BIG stakes I think when it comes to politics. It's unbelievable what some WILL believe and it's unbelievable what some WON'T believe. Not to mention lies that are mere speculations of remotely possible (at most) worst case scenarios ... presented as if it were a factual likelihood. It's normal to speculate obviously .. but to a crazy extreme?

It is hard to find the truth these days. All the information you could want at your fingertips with the internet yet it's mostly a bunch of biased nonsense. Learning to research efficiently is really important. It's useless however if you can't discern FACT from opinion or speculation. We've heard that level of stupidity more than once in comments like "the body rejects rape sperm" paraphrased or Anthony Weiner's "it's not about me" comment!

DISCLAIMER: I really DON'T expect politics to adhere to the is it kind rule.

Is it shock jock mentality?

What do you think a few of his specific goals would be?

Would he care about poverty and homelessness in this country?

What do you think he would be good at? Bad at?

Not ALL conservatives do this.

I'm tired of conservatives calling liberals the things THEY THEMSELVES are being called out on .. racist, intolerant, having a narcissistic view re who has rights, a disregard of the fact that the constitution is for ALL not some. Stop parroting back what people are calling you and come up with something that's applicable at the very least.

I know .. I'm going to get blasted here. Go for it .. but please make it original and applicable.

Southern Maine. I feel so energetic and happy on days like this. We've had a humid, wet summer so far so I'm REALLY happy today!

Low humidity, mostly sunny clear blue skies with a few cumulous clouds, about 72 degrees, a perfect breeze, green green grass and leaves, pine trees of course, blackberry bushes (I'm pretty scratched up), vegetable gardens, and wildflowers. Happy I live here today. I might not say that in mid-February. :)

Is your weather effecting you today?

I've kicked bad habits.. but despite having quit 5 times .. once for 10 months .. I just cannot (right now anyway) successfully quit smoking. I'm an emotional smoker and an emotional person, unfortunate in this context. I bought an electronic cigarette to try to quit.

Even if I don't successfully quit right now, I KNOW it's better to smoke an E cigarette regularly than real cigarettes regularly (many more and KNOWN chemicals in these) .. there's a horrifying and long list!

Now it's being questioned whether the E cigarettes are safe??? How BIZARRE is that if you think about it. Cigarettes are okay but not an e cigarette (I hear their argument against them but I do NOT buy it ..those kids/people/whomever will just buy real cigarettes if they take away the e cigarettes) I've been smoking longer than most of you have probably been alive if you're wondering .. it does matter in some respects.

Question:

Wasn't the argument used to ban cigarettes all about protecting the rights of OTHERS to not be exposed to a smoker's bad choice? That doesn't apply with an E cigarette which produces a nicotine vapor that evaporates quickly .. no you're not breathing it if you're near me. What gives them the right to take away my right to smoke when it's no longer hurting anyone else???

QUESTION:

Is it the TOBACCO LOBBIES? It must be .. who else would come up with this and has the power to get people to consider this as opposed to banning cigarettes. I can see stupidity coming a mile away in this case. I really hope THIS gets shot down before it becomes reality before it is banned everywhere.

Warning: if you're an easily offended Republican and/or you have no sense of humor .. just skip this!

I always thought George Carlin had an ironic way of arriving at some real truths. What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xiKqowqbOk

No this is not in the wrong category .. it's George Carlin "The Truth about Republicans"

I'm stunned by the amount of ignorance based hatred I'm seeing for an entire race of people in this day and age.

I live in Maine (not like the real world in many good ways) and we have a very small black population .. I don't see hate like this in my world.

I have NOT lived here my whole life. In fact I grew up in an era of race riots in my high school. I was in New Haven when the Black Panther trials were going on .. I am NOT unaware of how things used to be .. I just didn't realize how little they've changed.

All the racists on here have made me realize it's still alive and well in a BIG way! Thanks for the wakeup call!

The only thing we don't like here is flatlanders!

We can't have everyone who lives in suburbia fearing for their lives because their sidewalks are being used to try to kill them can we?

My idea of a stupid, but somewhat amusing, question.

Do you have an amusing answer? Yes it can be stupid. :)

I've always found that a little odd. I have sworn on the Bible in court but the fact it was the bible made no difference to me. It could have been a joke book. The ACT of swearing to tell the truth for ME is about honoring the process of the justice system. I take it seriously but God is not in that equation for me. Do you think liars, cheats, thieves, murderers are really going to tell the truth because they swore on the bible? What about you personally? What does swearing on the bible mean to you?

Not knocking any show in particular as a whole BUT I don't like it when half naked buff men are popping up all over talk shows where women increasingly treat them like pieces of meat. (I don't object to what they're doing at all .. eye candy is good .. but I DO object to the way they're talked to/about).

It's the same thing men have been bashed for when they did it to young women! There's a rising trend of anoerexic and bulimic young men in our country and now I'm seeing this on TV .. particularly on daytime talk shows. Instead of being more respectful of men AND women, have we just taken on this disrespectful behavior traditionally attributed to men?

I looked out my back window hoping I could see a neighbors fireworks above the trees. Instead I saw a field full of fire flies! Sooooo many .. they must like humidity. It's as good as the fireworks for me.

I answer questions for a variety of reasons but points isn't one of them. What are they good for anyway?

Why is it okay for Alec Baldwin to use slurs against gays? Seems like the powers that be just think, "Oh my, there goes that Alec again!" (re:rant at the journalist who said AB's wife was tweeting at JG's funeral.)

Why is Paul Deen being judged so harshly while Big Mouth Baldwin says whatever he wants and people just shrug their shoulders and think he acted like an idiot?

I think AB is more offensive in his intent that PD was!

Why the double standard? What do you think about the different ways these incidents have played out (so far)?

Will you want someone to stand up for your rights IF the majority tramples them?

Please remember you have not YET had to deal with BEING a minority. Is this something you've thought of? Something you worry about?

I'm so tired of people paying no attention to what's going on in the world then condemning ONE thing they heard on the local news. They have no context for it and don't know what it means but WOW are they mad!

Then .. they have a chance to vote and they say, "I don't vote and I never will!" as though voting is a bad thing that means you are participating in politics. It's THEIR government and many of them are dependent on it.

I think it's fear based like most things that grow out of ignorance. Sometimes its probably even as basic as not knowing how to fill out a ballot and not wanting to admit they're never done it before .. so they never start. HUGE SIGH!