should I be worried?

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I remember a group of Senators on the front page. They had blocked the ending of 'don't ask, don't tell'.
They looked like they were cornered by a pack of wild dogs.
They still do.
Doesn't homophobia look smug?
What I see looks like terror.
That makes me very nervous.
Am I 'projecting'?

The Aspie Quiz has 35 pictures of eyes. I matched the expression to the emotion word but this was too hard. I got 2 correct. My friend got 1 wrong. I noticed some eye 'weirdness', but I was past 40. The female eyes looked flat and dead to me. The men looked worried, distracted or in pain.
I've taken it three times, but I am really bad at this part.
Are there wild dogs attacking the Senate?
Are they afraid of something?
Am I translating pomposity into fright?

i'd offer a insightful response but i find your post incredibly confusing.

Read the paragraphs in reverse order, they make more sense that way.

I remember one of those eye-tests as well, and for me it was mostly guesswork.

Wild dogs ARE attacking the senate. Yes, you should be worried.

The wild dogs running the senate got there because they sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" to their constituents enough. So, yeah, naturally you can expect everyone else to be frightened. They are having to face the reality their people would rather sit at home and collect their checks than actually go to work and end up making less money.

Eventually the alpha male policies that are driving the whole thing will lead to a shortage of fresh meat for the wild dogs to feed on. Once they start feeding off each other and the constituents realize that the free rides are over, you'll see a return to conservatism. But for the time being, work to pay off all your debts and try to save enough money for 6 months of expenses. If you're making car payments, sell your car and get you a $3,000 beater. If you're struggling to make mortgage payments, sell your house and rent a small house or apartment; or conversely, if you happen to have enough equity, buy a trailer and at least a half-lot, save your money, and buy that nice 5-bedroom when you have enough cash. Pay off your student loans as quick as you possibly can (anybody can do it in 5 years or less as long as your income is good). When the bottom drops out of irresponsible policies, you'll have a head start on everyone else. And you'll feel a LOT better.

FYI: I'm as serious as I can be, btw, about that last bit. I just got approved for IBR on student loans, which is wonderful for taking away the pressure of having to make payments or rack up interest on forbearance...which will only last you just so long. If I stay poor for 20 years, I can kiss those loans goodbye. It's just that I want more than that for my family, so I'm now pondering seasonal work, odd jobs, and maybe some part-time early morning work. If I can average an extra $30/day after taxes, I can get rid of nearly $45,000 within 5-7 years (depending on how things go, of course, since things can change so quickly). Without that hanging over my head, private school tuition and later college tuition for the kids will be a piece of cake.

Piece of advice: Forget about the wild dogs in the senate. Get your own affairs in order so that as much as possible you only answer to the federal government once a year. Get that done and you won't need to worry at all.

I seem to write backwards. It confuses me big time. Thanks for your post. It helps.

So?

You are gay, and you are worried that senate will victimize gays?

Or what?

I am smiling, alas I am not gay. [sigh]

It's the look of terror that concerns me. Okay. I'm full of it. Terrified guys with manicures are disconcerting enough, but they are repeating actions and talking fast. Last year they voted 3 times to put 'in God we trust' on money. The House has met less than any previously. Presidential debates are all about taxes. Each candidate pushes a plan, but tax code goes through Congress. They talk about taxes all the time. They used to branch out, even discussing issues unrelated to money at times. The economic crisis narrowed the debate
Some other concerns:
The USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world as a percentage of populace.
Legislation conflicts with justice, is subject to interpretation and manipulation.
The law of the land is too vast to be understood in a single lifetime.
Cleaning products label a federal threat, then the state of California knows you clean with a carcinogen. If it causes cancer in California, why do the other states not care?
Does the Constitution assign Congress to write law? They don't even read. They vote the way their staff indicates.
They (Washington politicians) follow a pattern from decency when they start, that reminds me of something. I don't know what. I've looked at photos chronologically. They start out human, then shut down-the light fades from their eyes. Lobbies are insulation or a wall to withdraw behind. They look guilty, ashamed and are acting more and more melodramatic. Freedom of thought is threatened with banishment. RINO is a warning to fall in line.
Politicians are incapable of troubleshooting. Their brains are overdeveloped socially- autism reversed. NTs stick tightly to rules of conduct. Deny everything. Bluff. Keep your cards close.
As the pressure mounts, they talk taxes and flag pins.
A disassociative fugue. That's maybe not it... dunno..
What do you think?

PS Good advice on credit and debt. I don't pay for more than I can afford. But good advice nevertheless.

You got more here than I can safely cover. But I'll do what I can while I have a minute or three...


We're just a polarized nation. I don't care if you agree with me or not on anything else, but the two sides don't communicate anymore. If we can somehow get to a point where polarization isn't the issue anymore we'll start moving ahead. It's going to take a disaster much more drastic than what we're seeing now to bring everyone back to the table, I'm afraid, but it's a disaster that's been coming for a long time. And I mean something a lot more drastic than 9/11. Money is just money. It comes and goes. You can't get human life back.


To which I say, "meh." Crooks gonna crook. Only way to fix that problem is involuntary servitude (for criminals). Aside from that, engender a less litigious society and focus on genuine fairness with a little dash of compassion and mercy. Put proven murderers to death. And overall get individuals to think more of others rather than being entirely self-serving. Get there and "justice" really will be justice.



California is just a flat-out weird place. It all goes back to that whole "I'll sue you" mentality. Electronic products produced in the state by necessity have small traces of potential carcinogens. I say that because some of those things aren't entirely proven carcinogens, at least not as far as I'm aware. The thing is, though, that what little bit of carcinogens are in there are a) unlikely to come into contact with human tissue so as to cause cancer, and b) such tiny amounts that even if you ate the product it's unlikely you'd get cancer anyway. It's like saying, hey, it's got lead solder, so just by looking at it you're going to get heavy metal poisoning. They label products that way because they know the silliness of frivolous lawsuits in California--that are often WON against the manufacturer. You don't see that kind of behavior in many other places. Other states tend not to care because common sense prevails and they don't fear that getting cancer from pushing a button on a TV remote is really any kind of risk. Now, the American South, especially Mississippi, has been in bad need of tort reform for a long time. We've made a lot of inroads towards getting rid of stupid, frivolous lawsuits, but we have a long way yet to go in my opinion. The best we've managed is to cap awards in torts. So, you can still rake in a LOT of dough from Mississippi lawsuits, but it's a little bit closer to reasonable than it used to be even if it is still a bit much.


Well, exactly. The Democratic Party votes strictly along the party line typically as handed down straight from Dear Leader. The Republicans oppose it because that's what Republicans do. The thing is, everyone has already made up their minds and there is no room for debate. It doesn't matter which side you're on, either, so both parties make me feel physically ill. That light going out? It goes out because no amount of discussion is going to win anyone over from the opposing side. Dems won't oppose Obama. Repubs won't win any Dems to their side. And if you're a moderate on either side and you don't go with your party, you're a "traitor."

What really makes me sick, though, is Dems appear to have no accountability whatsoever. Like the whole Hillary Clinton fiasco with Benghazi. She got a completely clean slate so if she wants to run in the next presidential election, giving her the nomination is a mere formality now. All the skeletons have been cleaned out of her closets now, so don't you dare bring it up in the debates!! ! Republicans don't usually work that way. If the state department had screwed up that badly under a Republican administration, the secretary's political career would have been OVER. There would be hearings, resignations, maybe even prison time--I dunno. There'd be a lot of people out of jobs, NOT people collecting paychecks during "administrative leave." Rather, Hillary blamed congress because there was no legislation on the books that allowed her to do what she needed to do. I'm sorry, but when was the last time you had to have a law passed to hire and fire people??? That's not how it works in the real world, that's not how it works in Washington, and any excuses as to why you aren't doing your job sounds to me like nothing more than bullsnot.

But no, that's not what actually happens. Instead, you have an entire congressional committee in the senate that not only toes the party line (Democratic) but lovingly caresses and kisses her buttocks (both parties) by starting out their statements/questions with telling Hillary how she's done such a FABULOUS job as secretary of state. WHAT???

That's only a recent example that I can easily recall and comment on, but it's an old familiar pattern. Personally I blame Carter, but my opinion doesn't really matter all that much. Looks to me like Carter eventually got three terms in and I'm afraid we're looking at two more. We'll just have to wait and see.


Any time! I need to get together with my wife, sit down, and actually write out a REAL budget. I'm REFUSING to eat out or even eat take-out pizza. The wife has been getting creative with leftovers at work, and we still have over half her paycheck still in the bank. w00h00! sez I. However, tax time is upon us. Once we get through tax season things will start to straighten out. December and January are typically my slim months and I just got two very creative clients that I'm looking forward to working with. Never paying for more than you can afford is always a good ticket, but the best part is waking up one day and being able to afford a little more!

Cheers!