chri'stina

Charles! Wow, flashback! How are you?? I think you were my fellow conservative buddy. I was formerly incanada1234, formerly incanada123, formerly approvemedammit. Yeah, I was banned a lot back then.

Whatever happened to other oldies? Stina&Suj, Arijit/Gupt, almaty, etc. Any idea?

Hi! I haven't posted or read much here in awhile! All is well. We have 2 sons, 5 yr old and 8 month old. Thanks for asking about me! Hope you are well.

This poll needed an anti-choice answer picked finally.

Eeek, what cable do you have? I have DISH and I pay, like, $35 a month. We get all of the regular channels such as Food Network and Fox.

Ours costs about the same too, through Dish. We don't have DVR(maybe one day lol).

Most of the things we choose to go without is to save more money, not because we are poor. So not having all those things doesn't mean poor. It could mean budgeting for extra savings.

Some people have bad budgeting skills which causes a lot financial problems for them. And some people make wiser budgeting decisions so that money can be used in different ways.

Poor or middle class (I guess I'd exempt the rich with abundant money flow from this for now), there will always be those that just blow their money on unneeded things. And then complain when they run low on cash or can't get something they actually needed. For instance, they can't afford to fix their car but they can afford all new smartphones with $100/month each plans, plus a DVR service, plus cable, plus new video games, plus eating out all the time. Yeah, they actually could afford to fix their car if they made it the priority. (using a real example I know of)

Some people tend to not look past their own little world. They feel their misery is relative to their surroundings. But after being in India myself too, it is just so different. It opens you up to what poverty in this world truly means, not just what it means in the US.

I have no eyes actually. I sense the vehicles through sound.

That's awesome.

I plan to homeschool my kids. Homeschooling has to follow a certain curriculum by the state, and the kids generally score much higher on their exit exams. The advantage is you don't have to have your children engulfed in a sea of idiots and misinformation (anf fyi I've been working in public schools for 2 years now and have met the most... interesting... children and teachers). You can also go above and beyond so much easier. I know my parents let me read scientific journals as a child, and I remember going to the university library and having my dad check out all kinds of things for me in addition to reading their books-- like the Hobbit and LOTR trilogy which I did over 2 weeks one summer at age 7. I mean it was nice. If you could work at your own pace with your children, then you can move on to additional things they may be interested in. I know my parents were nerds, we're nerds, and I am going to do my best to also raise nerds. This is in addition to teaching them about physical education/having them run free/play and be involved in other pursuits. Here elementary children get social studies (history, etc) for 15 minutes twice a week. Science is the same duration and frequency. That is unacceptable to me. In addition, secondary schools are now stopping US history and government here as well. Ridiculous.

I was homeschooled from kindergarten to 4th grade. Then went to private schools(no, we didn't actually have money, other people paid for us). The only thing is that neither of my parents were nerds hehe, and my mom wasn't cut out for teaching me and my sister all day. But she must have done well since she taught us how to read and do math and all that stuff you are supposed to know. We had to take the yearly SATs at a nearby school, while home schooled. I think even with my mom not being the best teacher ever, I scored high and did well in school for the rest of my life. But it depends on the individual child. Me and my sister didn't score the same even with the same mom as teacher. And as for the social part, we weren't isolated. We had church activities, friends and cousins. If we had never seen other kids, I don't think my mom would have done it. She did it because she knew a bunch of people trying it.

I went to a public college and then university after high school.

As for me, even though I turned out more nerdy than the rest of my family, I don't see myself homeschooling my son as of now. I like learning but I don't think I could be a full time teacher. But I also don't like the idea of public school, especially when he is older.

If Alaska were a country, that wouldn't be true for Alaska.

How do I know?

The cries of the caribou in the dead of night are filled with an indescribable sadness.

Oh really? (,<<<those are tears of laughter, not sadness)

This isn't the first time you've said this. It's disgusting - just like the statements in the OP.

Amen.

Innocent human life is in every country, no matter what country it is.

You actually watched that show? Seriously who watches ####### like that ? It's like watching other stupid reality TV shows like Dancing with the stars, surviver island, mtv, etc...

I would rather have my eyes gouged out with a hot iron than watch any of that brainless #######.

Let's see, yes I have watched that show along with survivor(but not this season), American Idol, some other reality shows too. People watch shows they enjoy. I am a lot younger than you, so you can blame my immaturity.

Whenever I read a quote from Trump, I feel like I can hear him saying it out loud. I think because I have watched too much of The Apprentice over the years.

Here's a cartoon. Not a superhero one though.

http://www.thepoliticalmovement.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/donald-trump-2012-political-cartoon-08.jpg

lol. Some people just repeat themselves all the time. All the time. All the time!

I find this amount of disbelief in the President's birth place to be sad.

I have sold and bought many many things on Ebay over the years, always through paypal. I am sure it'll be fine. Just make sure you get insurance next time to not have to worry about it.

He's not going to get the nomination or win the presidency. Don't be reedikulous.

During the campaign (2008) there were Republicans who claimed his very presence in the U.S. was illegal.

Even though his mother was a US Citizen? He wouldn't have to immigrate here even if he was born abroad if registered as a US Citizen by his mother. Dumb-de-dumb-dumb.

So you're gonna end up in the loony bin when older.

I re-took and felt it's more "me" this time, but maybe I have got myself all wrong!! lol

----

You need to help others and to be thought of as a generous and kind individual. Often you are taken advantage of and regarded as simply part of the scenery. You work best when handling the work yourself; you do not appreciate a managerial role and tend to be uncomfortable in that position. Friendship is important to you, but it is generated on a personal basis, rarely a professional one. Consequently, family life is very important to you, and is often the most important aspect. Because of a strong sense of propriety however, you will sometimes consider the eccentric behavior of your friends and family as a personal affront. Often you find it difficult to speak up about personal anguish or pain, feeling instead that it is something an individual should bear in silence. Tradition is important to you, and you feel a sense of belonging when operating within the constraints of a predictable routine.

My first result:

Quiet and very self-assured, you tend to keep your own council. Pragmatic and practical to a fault, you are not one to worry about the finer points of philosophical discourse. In fact, because you are very much an individualist, you often finds yourself at odds with the established truth or the wishes of the majority. You will often earn the wrath of an employer by taking upon yourself decisions which are rightly those of your manager. You are not one to take credit unless it is deserved. Similarly however, you will also not happily give credit where it is not due. In a romantic relationship you can be very frustrating. While you do care deeply and sincerely, and are willing to work at a relationship, your confidence in your own abilities can on occasion make it difficult to see the world from a partner’s point of view. Quiet and stoic at times, you can drive a more emotional individual completely up the wall. You can become overstressed and fatigued without knowing it. Taking time to rest between bouts of hard work can help to prevent a breakdown later on.

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Some is true, but I have never earned an employer's wrath and I am agreeable in the work place. Plus, I like to help emotional people feel better, not worse. I am quiet but I smile at people.

sigh...

I thought all of her kids were adopted. I don't ever recall a pregnant Rosie O'Donnell. Someone can correct me if I am wrong.

Cultural traditions die hard, of course, but supply and demand would suggest that dowries should soon be a thing of the past. When there are several perfectly fine young men for every young woman, it's odd that the groom's family should expect to get goods or money out of the deal. Obviously, everyone will have his or her preferences, but a groom who isn't willing to accept a wife without a dowry or at least a small one will probably be a very old bachelor.

Given the nature of human reproduction, I still don't quite understand cultures in which the bride and her family are expected to bear most of the financial burden of the new family. Biologically, the bride is bringing more to the table already.

Those who care about dowry also seem to care about caste and the groom's/bride's family's reputation. It'd be interesting to see a caste break down of male/female ratios. Caste is also not supposed to be cared about in India anymore either. Yeah right. Being a perfectly fine young man is not the only criteria looked at during marriage arrangements. It'd be nice if this dowry from bride tradition dies. It will take a long time IMO since it's been going on for a very long time. It will die in the large metros first I am sure, and very last in the rural villages. That's *if* it ever dies out. It's wrapped very deeply into the religion and culture for some. It's not just a simple tradition.

"or surviving" Yes very sad, I wonder why it is like that.

I'm not Indian or an expert, but from what I have learned it's due to the burden on parents who have daughters. They often have to give a "dowry" to their daughter's future groom. When a daughter is born to traditional Indians who follow the practice, they have to start thinking from when she is young about how much money they have to save to be able to afford a dowry so their daughter can be arranged to a good family. (well, "good" to me would obviously be a family who didn't demand a dowry, not one who would!!) While dowry is outlawed(for very good reasons), people still do it. Parents of potential grooms often demand for expensive gifts(vehicle, house goods, sometimes plain cash) as part of the agreement of an arranged marriage. It has happened to people in my husband's family and they complied, while some others have strongly opposed it. My husband has four sisters. Now that you know how things can happen with dowry, imagine how stressed they might have been after having 4 girls and only 1 boy. And this American girl didn't even give them a dowry. Now all their daughters have gotten married, and I know for a fact one of them was a more pricey arrangement, unfortunately.(I hope if I were Indian, they wouldn't have asked for a dowry from my parents, and I know my husband would have never stood for it for his own marriage.)

it's flawed then, they counted an american. demand a recount!

Two Americans! Even worse.

Oooh oooh guess what? I was in the census!! The census guy came to their flat while we were there! So you can subtract 3 from that.

(well I'm not really sure if they counted us or knew we lived in the US, but we were listed on it by my FIL I believe)

U ppls is so silly!

One group of people's slavery and hardships can benefit another group of people, but that doesn't make it morally right or an acceptable blemish on society.

The reason I believe that the Civil War was not about slavery is not that secession was not about slavery. It more or less was. However, neither Lincoln as an individual nor the North collectively went to war to free the slaves or stop slavery. The North went to war to assert the authority of the federal government and to assert that states did not have the authority to secede. Further, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation as a measure of economic warfare, not as an assertion of human rights.