twowls

Why, because you refuse to believe that people are "who they are" versus the idea that you can make society be what you want it to be?

You're quite naive if you think human beings are far different than the rest of the animal kingdom. We may have opposable thumbs and we may be able to outsmart other species and might be able to even outsmart ourselves, but at the end of the day we really are no different. Society considers those who are different "mentally ill" when in reality they are far from it.

Because you're still trying to dress up your personal philosophy--"#### em"--as some kind of Darwinian directive. I am not buying this, no matter how many times you rephrase the same simplistic notion.

I understand very well the wide view of sands through the hourglass and perpetual ping pong between humanity's best impulses and its worst. That's how I manage to get through the night. I just don't use the wide view as an excuse for my or anyone else's bad behavior, as some kind of get out of jail free card for my own selfishness or the evil that men do, by violence or self-serving sleep.

Every species has more than one level if you look and understand them enough, even Dingos. We have a lot more in common than you want to realize and the pack/herd depending on the group has its own way of dealing with the troublemakers, even in the wild.

Human nature is a funny thing really. We can be sweet, naive, and caring, or we can be ruthless, brutal, and murderous. It's not a matter of what's right and what's wrong, it's a matter of the "nature" of what we really are. At the end of the day. we're still an animal species on this planet.

Well this is all very convenient for me and the midget-powered light rail system I'm developing. You're out of your element Donnie.

Sorry, disagree. We all win when the "establishment" Dems and Repubs are booted out. We may have to deal with a few crazies...but we already do (Can you say "Dennis Kucinich"?) We need to get the establishment pols afraid of the electorate. The Soviet politburo had a higher turnover rate than the Senate/House.

If you ask me the person to vote for in the person who is not an incumbent.

The message is "You guys are SO bad, we will vote for this wierdo before we vote for you!"

Well it's a theory, but it sounds a lot like burning down your house because it wasn't that nice anyway, and then hoping a new good house somehow rises majestically out of a bunch of charred timber.

I think there are dolts all over the place, but I will still be voting the marginally non-moronic ticket.

"But they're all the same!!!"

Pardon me. I'm going to go with the mavericks who dig evolution and gravity over the party that still uses hand-drawn maps that read "There be dragons here" on the edges in curly script.

so, can I staple the same forms to each other, like the I-129 which is 3 pages, I can staple those 3 pages together? I'll paperclip the page with the photo connected to the g325 then. thank you so much!!!! So excited! appreciate it !!

Don't staple. Don't staple anything except maybe the plastic baggie onto the plain white sheet. They are going to tear everything apart and reorganize it. Use clips for all things you want to have grouped together. Two-hole punch the top of all the papers. Don't staple. Bad staples.

You were right! I took a break, and found out I aged my father by 30 years and forgot to respond to a question on one of the forms! lol yikes! But I've e-mailed him the 3 things I need from him and will hopefully get those asap He's a sweetie, said he'd get on it today, since we spoke last night about it Anyways to clarify I made a list of everything I needed, and I just have to get some fb messages, and I have chat logs from blackberry and msn as well to go with our proof of relations, would that be good along with pictures? I have quite a few from the different times we've seen each other in the past year (3 times altogether, including a semester I sent in london at uni) Here is my list and please correct me if I'm wrong on anything

1. Check: $455 (who do we make the check out too)?

2. Cover Letter

3. I-129F Form

4. Question 18-supplement ( I stapled this to the back of my I-129F form, is that okay? I figured since it was a part of that it would be okay)

5. Intent to Marry, both of them

6. Proof of having met (Pictures, boarding passes, and copies of passport stamps)

7. G-325A Form - Mine

8. Passport sized photo (do I staple this to the back of my G-325A form? I know I have to put it in a plastic bag with my full name on the back, but it is alright to staple the plastic bag to the form?

9. G-325 A Form -Dan's along with passport sized photo, I'll just wait to see what someone says about that what I asked above

10. Copy of Birth Certificate (does this have to be notarized? I think I already asked this and they said no so)

And we don't need anything else, no previous marriages, or children, or name changes or convictions so

Thanks everyone!!!!

And I can mail this to this address?:

USCIS

P.O. Box 660151

Dallas, TX 75266

Is this the best address to send it to or is there another faster way? And I have to send it by USPS? What's the fastest way to get it there? thank you!!!!

1. Write your check to United States Department of Homeland Security--don't abbreviate it.

2. Make sure your cover letter has a table of contents listing all the documents in your packet, in the order in which they are arranged.

3. Uhhuh.

4. I would stay away from staples except where you're fixing plastic bags to plain paper. USCIS is going to take the whole thing apart and reorganize it according to their own needs, and when they do that they're going to use a two-hole punch file folder. If you staple, it might rip some pages when they dismantle it. You can help them by two-hole punching the top of each page, then collating related documents with an Acco clip or a paper clip.

5.-7. Uhhuh.

8. Don't staple it to the G-325. Staple the plastic bag to a separate sheet of white paper. You can clip that page together with the G-325 if you like.

9. Right

10. No notarization needed. Back and front copies of the BC.

You still don't need your chats and emails. At all.

Use return receipt when you send by USPS. You can choose overnight if you want; that's fast. The address you have is the correct one--if you're sending by USPS. So send by USPS.

Why is it scary? That's how life is and always has been. Do you think just because this is a "civilized" society that this is much different than the animal kingdom? I would suggest you look around a lot closer at your surroundings and you might see that we are not much different than a herd of animals in the jungle doing what we can to survive. Our jungle might have roofs, processed food, etc. but it's still a jungle in which we are trying to survive and the weakest of us are shut out pretty quickly. We do well to take care of the majority of the herd, but there are always those who are left behind for one reason or another, or even outcast from society as a whole.

No, I get that this is how you see it, or at least explain it to yourself. And it's true on a level. But humans have more than one level. We are not dingos. And it's scary when extrapolated out to where people are acting like dingos on a wide scale, and others do nothing.

perhaps if you'd read my others posts before jumping the gun on your bandwagon, you'd see that I said that the difference is inside one's personal circle and then outside the personal circle.

Expecting someone to help a random stranger is a completely different idealism. Sometimes just taking care of you and yours is enough and should be enough for the most part.

You can not like the fact that i'm not 'compassionate' enough to care about joe blow walking down the street, but I'm sorry, I really don't. If you do, then good for you. That is your way of life and how you are personally. That is how you are built in your compassion for the world. Not everyone is though and that's fine too.

It's real simple at the end of the day. I take care of myself and those close to me and I don't ask for anything from anyone. Therefore as I have zero expectation for help from anyone, then no one should 'expect' there to be help or aid coming from me.

I know, it's just that you first tried to dress it up as some kind of cosmic non-participation agreement. Nature running its course; people left unaided are maybe just meant to suffer alone this go-round... That's just an awkward little dance with rather scary and unsupportable implications.

Maybe there is a Lord of the Flies type way to consider humanity's course, but only if you view the entire experiment like a slightly mean kid watching ants do battle for your vague amusement. I prefer you say what you have here: I don't care; I've worked out an equation wherein if I never want help, I also don't hand it out.

Oh, I got my wild-haired tea partiers mixed up. I was questioning Gary on the notion Crazy Christine will win, which he's also asserted. I don't know about this psycho.

And I guess the popular wisdom is that it will be a bloodbath--except for spoilers that are just that nuts and might screw it up for the Republicans, Crazy C at the fore.

But how many Philistine foreskins did David buy his wife with? Answer the riddle man!

I believe I am pro-logic, more than anti-Bible. But the Bible and other 'source material' are roots of all religions, and when they are exposed for exactly what you say, interesting, offering potentially useful insights, or sources of potential wisdom, but hardly what they originally claimed to be unassailable words of truth from *insert God of choice here* then the wheels start to leave the bus, the shine leaves the apple, and belief becomes a matter of 'faith' without reason.

Sure. And I'm not religious and you're not going to get any arguments from me. I just think the "Look! Contradictions!" part is played. And that there are books out there with cool stuff worth contemplating, even with a bit of respect. No real connection between respecting old good words and buying the doctrine, at least not for me. Basically I think you're limiting your library, and I believe in libraries and interesting words. You probably do too.

I am just surprised AC sepaks this way to a person who's opponent is a Democrat. Aren't you?

The Dem will lose. Too bad for AC.

I just wrote this in another thread, but what number are you privy to? The Dem will lose? I can't find anything suggesting it. But you keep saying it?

Comprehensive!

But Gary, why do you keep insisting she'll win so you can rub the Dem's faces in it? Nobody wins if she does. Everyone can share the embarrassment. They already are.

Nature has a way of running its course. There's always someone there to help and people out there looking for others to help.

The problem always comes when others are forced to help other people.

If no one is there to help, then perhaps one was not meant to be help. It's the way of life. It's a circle that isn't always "right" in everyone's eyes, but it is what it is.

Circle of life! Let things run their course!

This is all a runaround in service of the fact you don't feel connected to those with the least. If you had a mentally-ill brother on the streets, or had dealt with a death-grip addiction yourself, you'd change your tune. Or for god's sake, I hope you would. You are not different from those that sleep without a roof. I don't know where your compassion part got lost, but it costs so very, very little to find it. Your unwillingness to venture a cursory search is on you.

Here is a Biblical riddle:

How many Philistine foreskins did David buy his first wife with?

100 or 200?

2 Samuel 3:14:

And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth Saul's son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the Philistines.

1 Samuel 18:27

Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

You don't believe in the God of the Bible or similar monotheistic systems so you're pointing out ways in which the source material is weak or contradictory. There's no argument there, unless you're in a room full of tea partiers or something. The Bible has been revised many, many times and it is now a great jumble of ideas and intentions at this point.

I wasn't defending the Bible as a source of unassailable truth and consistency when I broke down the two passages you offered. I do defend the Bible as an interesting document with some useful insights.

I think you're wasting your time being anti-Bible. It's possible to glean potential wisdom from lots of sources without buying the entire cow.

Oh no...can anyone see that? I can't. Here's the link.

[med

ia][/media]

Nightmare candidate Renee Ellmers tries to be rubber, is glue to AC's apt criticisms of her smarmy ad. Bonus history lesson included.

I recently took a trip abroad where I met a man and we fell in love. We are planning to get married, but dont know what that'll do since Im canadian and hes american. Is there any clause in immigration for love at first sight?

If you both still have lives in your respective countries, you may want a K1. It'll take about 6 months, then you can marry and join your lives and live happily ever after (assuming you're ready to relocate). What you need at the outset is solid proof of having met in person--passport stamps, boarding passes that show you were at the same place at the same time.

You can go get married right away, but that's another process and you still have to be separated for a while. To the guides!

Ah the metaphor gambit to cover contradictory instructions... Didn't see that coming.

It's not a gambit, it's a literary device. Unless your hands have eyes.

Have you read the Bible as a work of literature? It's pretty fascinating. Not so great in terms of unambiguous and immutable meaning.

Actually the first verse insists you brag, the second tells you to give in secret.

That's not my reading. Nobody is compelled to do anything but let their light shine, be themselves, be good. The notice of such then goes to God for praise--not the adherent; there's no self-honoring at all.

The second passage is a metaphor for not being a d*ck about it.

Good deeds

Matt 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (NIV)

Or:

Matt 6:3-4 "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (NIV)

So difficult to know what to do...

Not so tough. Do kind acts and don't brag about them.

I used to be more against giving money to people who asked for it. I didn't want to help the druggie or alcoholic get their fix. But then I read some personal stories of people, some who went undercover as homeless people to see what it was like, and then other stories, and felt like sometimes they just need a few bucks. I have dropped food off for people holding the 'will work for food' signs, and they hide the food to eat later because I guess food is not all they wanted. But I feel like I don't need to judge it anymore. We can't usually help every single time we see something like this, but sometimes it's the right time to help.

Drug addiction is a prison much like mental illness. There are very, very few homeless people that are otherwise perfectly capable of holding it together in the standard way but choose the panhandling desperate option for fun. It's not at all fun to be unsafe and out of control, and you can comfortably assume that their lives are hell.

These people are well-acquainted with those that scorn them. Your compassion is a meaningful act.

Thank you all for your advice. I think my take away from your responses is that I can write the dates on the pictures and that will be fine. I think my biggest worry now is that I don't have the boarding passes anymore. I re-printed the itinerary from my email, but I think I may have left the boarding passes on the plane a year or so ago... But hopefully, I've got GOLD in a hotel receipt with both our names as the guests, among other receipts that place me there during the dates on my itinerary. I do have the receipt from my boarding pass that my travel agent sent. And the passport stamp, and pictures, and letters - I pray I've got enough evidence.

And someone recommended making additional trips. Well, I cant really afford that - I work, but with the economy and trying to put aside for her arrival, who can afford that? It amazes me how expensive it is to travel to the Philippines when few people in that country have any money at all. may go back, like you suggested, for her interviews.

Thanks again, everyone!

Focus on your passport stamps--they are the end all-be all of primary evidence. You are fine. Stop worrying the boarding passes. Non-issue. That hotel receipt sounds grand, but seriously, passport stamps and you're good to go. Really.

d0 u think we need to call uscis for this? let them know to just continue the regular pocess? thanks

I have no clue. You might repost this way: "Made a mistake: Lied about impending deportation to expedite. Should we wait patiently or try to correct this?"

Your case was just going slowly. We would have simply told you to be patient, and to start contacting people after 6 months. The lie is the unknown at this point.

Try to get some expert opinions before you act. Sorry I can't help you more.

They say there is a little bit of Hippy in all of us....

but I don't believe it.

St. Germain would like a word with you in the Violet Flame annex. He says that in your past life you were a shoeless Gandhi type and although he meant to send you around again for another perspective, he didn't expect you to take it there.

we realized that so we never continue the expedite request. im wondering if it will cause delay or we still have the chance to get approved within 5-6 months.

thank you!

Nobody knows what's going to happen now, unfortunately. Hopefully they will let it fall away and continue processing the case. But there's been an assertion and a request based on a misrepresentation. That is not good. Maybe someone will come along who has heard of this type of scenario. I don't blame you for feeling frustrated and making a mistake, but it might be a big deal.

The general idea is that you are asking a favor of the government, and you'd better be really nice and honest and good throughout the whole process. You're basically just hoping now that they don't take note of the audacity of your fiance. And their record of ignoring bad behavior isn't great. I hope it works out, but I can't say what will happen. I'm sorry.

Mayday Danno; that's a hippie site. Have you been drinking the water??

"Best water ever. Hang out with the ascended masters on the highest vibes outside of the future cities of light. Transmute your mental continuum with the purple flame of saint Germaine!!! Did I mention the Lemurians?"