What do I want to change about healthcare?

Surprisingly (perhaps) I have a pretty short answer for this one. Of all the possible complaints and difficulties any American might have concerning how he or she receives healthcare in this country, my biggest problem is the seemingly overwhelming assumption that the federal government should be the entity from whom a solution must come.

There seem to be about a thousand rumors circling as to what the new hypothethical healthcare bill may entail. There are some ideas I don't have a big problem with. There are other ideas I feel I would nearly give my life to protest. But with all of the prospective policies, I have one problem: that the federal government of the United States would institute them.

*****
The portion you have just read was the entirety of my submission for SixPerspectives this week.
Be sure to check out that blog for the other perspectives and join in the discussion.

Here, i will share more.

You can call me a lunatic if you like. I might call you one back. But to me, the prospect of socialized healthcare goes against everything that made this country great. The idea is supposedly to make this country a better place, but any system that forces me to abide by its notion of what is best for me, will if yielded to, imprison me in the name of my own freedom. And i will fight it, i will resist it, and i will beg almighty God in His mercy not to let it happen.

Socialized healthcare is the first notable step to the socialization of a nation. Don't give up your rights, people. Not the president, the congress, not your doctor or your minister, can tell you what's best for you. You have the right to make that decision on your own. You may consult whomever you choose, but the decision is yours. Our forefathers and God Himself gave us the right to make the wrong decision if we want to. And my healthcare is included. My healthcare, my body, my values, my faith, my decision. Period.

This is no expose or anything. I received this advertisement in the mail today from Viking Pools, whom i have no reason to suspect is anything but a completely upstanding corporation. Simply, the image on the cover made me laugh. A little misleading, perhaps?

Getting a pool from Viking Pools or anyone else probably won't make your back yard ever look exactly - or remotely in the same universe - like this cover. But nice imagery, Viking Pools. And good for a laugh.

Each week, SixPerspectives has a new topic for discussion, and i often have the pleasure and privilege of sharing my perspective for the weekly submission. I have a hard time keeping my opinion to the preferred 150 word limit, so i have decided to expound here. Please check out SixPerspectives and read the other 5 responses submitted on this topic.

Topic: Do you give money to the homeless guy?

Well, I guess I have to ask, “which homeless guy?”

I don't have an absolute answer to this one.

As a Christian, I have a barrage of scriptures and scriptural principles banging around in my head, ”. . . do unto others . . .,” “. . . be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove . . .,” “. . . give to him to asks . . .,” “. . . be a good steward of the Lord's money . . .,” and so forth.

As a human being, I recognize that “the homeless guy” may or may not actually be homeless, may be about to spend my money on liquor or drugs, may be homeless by choice (those who choose to withdraw from society), or he may be someone just like me who had a bad run of luck and just doesn't know what to do but ask random strangers for money so he can eat.

But in that moment, that thirty-second window at the stop light, when I see said (possibly) homeless stranger at the corner hoping someone will drop him a five, I think the answer is “maybe.” It's really always a judgment call. And often it depends mostly on the off chance that I actually have some cash that can easily be handed out the window before the light turns green. And if he's selling something, not just begging for money, i'll gladly buy it if I can.

There is another variety of “homeless guy” who I would like to give money or food to but who will rarely accept it. This is the guy who most people have seen around town, walking here and there or riding a bike. Some of them have acquired an unofficial job taking out someone's trash or sweeping someone's floor and earning just enough to get them cigarettes and a combo meal every day or two. My husband and I will comment on them and give nick names to the ones who won't talk to us (just for our own personal reference). We'll notice when one of them acquires a bike and looks happy about his new, speedier method of transport. Sometimes they're slightly mentally disabled, functional but not comfortable with the “normal” way of things. I respect these guys, to be honest. I think they're exercising their right to live how they want.

Once I read a letter to the editor in a local newspaper, in which a woman was complaining about the population of homeless persons who had taken to camping in the unoccupied woods near the local library. She said that they should be “cleaned out of there” or something very similar indicating that they were dirtying up the place. This sentiment angered me. And I still don't understand it. I'm not afraid of homeless people any more than I am of the general population. And if they are not on private property and are not endangering anyone, I fail to see the problem. Homeless people are part of American society, like it or not. And a large percentage of them really have chosen to be homeless. For those who have chosen it and do not expect to be returned charity for laziness (not to imply that the homeless are necessarily lazy), I say let them be. I've certainly had my moments when the hermit life seemed very attractive. And feeling like being alone doesn't, in itself, make anyone dangerous.

Just one more thing. As to the guy who may be simply at the bottom end of a very bad run of circumstances, it has been my experience that he will eagerly make very good use of every drop of assistance you will give him. And when you see that the simplest act of compassion and decency has resulted in a man (or woman of course) who is back on his feet....well, if you gave to the drunk and the drug addict and the deceitful panhandler along the way....the people who made no profitable use of your outreach, it's o.k. The beauty of seeing a man, once humbled, now able to stand up on his own two feet and make a life for himself, is worth all of the seemingly wasted effort along the way. And it encourages me to once again to, ". . . give to him who asks . . ."

I haven't written here in a while because i've been considering a ... change in tone and a possible blog remodel. I think i might steer away from politics a bit. But i received an email the other day, and i think i'll share this one with you. I've read about this email at snopes.com and truthorfiction.com, and by all appearances, this is the real deal. Check it out.

House #1
A 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400 per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home.. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt" area. It's in the South.




House #2
Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground.

The water (usually 67 degrees F) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.


HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville , Tennessee ;
It is the abode of the "environmentalist" Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford , Texas ;
It is the residence of ex President of the United States , George W. Bush.

Don't believe everything you read. Verify it.
This message has been verified by snopes.com and truthorfiction.com.

Several months ago, in the post Ridiculous Ads for $100 Please, i discussed the convenient location of Cathy Anselmo and her very bright teeth, along with Cara and her new wrinkle-free face......some of the entertaining ads that have been showing up on Facebook and other places online.

To my surprise, this post has since generated more response that probably anything else i've written (11 comments). And we've discovered that Cathy lives in Orlando, Syracuse, Kansas City, Gambrills Maryland.....let's just say she and Cara get around.

When i first wrote about Cathy and Cara, it was really just for my own entertainment. But now i am aware that Cara and Cathy are sucking in customers - customers who are going for a much longer ride than they anticipated.

Let me explain.

Ads like these are very attractive.

You look at Cathy's teeth, and you think, "well, maybe it's a cheesy ad, but maybe that stuff really works..."

And then you think, "what could it hurt? Maybe i'll be out a few dollars, and if it's no good, then i'll know."

So you go for it. You "pay only $5.95 S&H for your risk free trial," and you take a risk.

I have no idea whether Cathy's solution for whiter teeth really works, and honestly, at this point it doesn't matter. The scam is not the product. The scam is the charges.

As some of you have already discovered, the real price for Cathy's gleaming pearly whites is $167.90....or more. This is because "Cathy's teeth whitening success" requires 2 separate products. Both of these products have the same deal going: you pay shipping and handling, and we'll send you a month's supply. Sounds easy enough. But if you read the terms and conditions, you will learn the following.

You get a 14 or 15 day offer. Your trial begins the day you enter your credit card number to pay for the small shipping and handling charge. Presumably, if the mail and their shipping office works adequately, you receive your trial products in say, 7 days. Now you have 7 (or 8) days to try the product and call to cancel your free trial. Don't forget, these are calendar days, not business days. If you do not call and cancel, you may anticipate a credit card bill for a total of $167.90. This includes your shipping and handling charges and the actual cost of your first month's supply, which was your free trial. Now, if your credit card bills are timed just right, you might not realize that you've been charged this outrageous amount of money before the 30th day, when your next month is charged and shipped......another $167.90.

This leads me to a very important exhortation: READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. No matter what cool deal you've stumbled upon, READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Remember, these people really don't want you to READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. That's kind of like letting you in on the details of their devious plan to trick you out of your money. But they have to put it out there, and now matter how tiny the print is, you better read it before you hand over your beloved credit card number.

Let me say this. I dig free stuff. And i have read many many terms and conditions for free offers, free trial offers, etc. And this particular scam is VERY popular right now. So if you're traveling the free stuff internet roller coaster, please allow me to offer a few tips to try to protect yourself.

1. READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. If they put you to sleep, read them out loud.

2. Consider using Visa or Mastercard gift cards instead of your credit or debit card. This helps in two ways; first, if the company won't take your registered gift card, it's because they want to make sure they can keep charging you; second, you limit your possible losses to the amount on the gift card, and they can't keep sucking the life out of your bank account or credit line.

3. Another part of these scams is that they often want your phone number, supposedly to "confirm your order." Don't fall for it. In my experience, they are using your phone number so they can have a phone sales guy call you and try to talk you into some additional perk that wasn't included in the original terms and conditions. They want more of your money, and they can get you to agree verbally, on a recording, before you really know what you're doing. You may, if they talk fast enough, actually think you're confirming what you already did. But you're not; you're agreeing to a whole new series of charges for something you may or may not want or need. I have seen opportunities, in the past, to create "disposable" internet phone numbers that you could create in order to get messages without giving away your private cell or home phone number. If you find one of those (that really is free), i would take advantage of it. Short of that, just don't fall for the follow up sales calls.

4. Also, check out this guy. It's an older post, so verify any information there, but this guy has some good tips and has acquired a lot of stuff for nothin'.

5. No matter what you see on the internet, please, even before you read the ad, scroll down to the bottom of the ad and click on the TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Don't even read the ad. The T&C say it all.

The point of a free market system is this: businesses that have customers will thrive because they produce products that other people are willing and able to pay for; businesses that don't have customers will fail because they produce products that other people are not willing or able to pay for.

O.k. o.k. that's the nutshell version, but the free market system works because of these reasons. And because the free market system works, the government does not need to get its micromanaging hands into it.

Please bear with me for a couple of paragraphs; i'm going to make an attempt at an illustration of this principle.

During the nineties, i had the pleasure and privilege of spending 3 summers in the nation of Germany as part of a missionary group from my college. We would travel from town to town visiting different churches as pre-arranged by our guide. In each town, the church would arrange for our lunches to be catered. In one of these towns, it just so happened that our lunches were catered by a local nursing home, who i'm sure offered a very competitive rate. On one of the nursing home days, while we were waiting to be served our lunch, i remember hearing the fateful German words, "schwein blutwurst," (schwein = swine or pig; blut = blood; wurst = sausage).

As part of our training for this "missionary journey," we had been instructed that we should always eat all that was set before us and never show if we didn't like something, in order to never be offensive to the people there. But on this particular day, the smell coming from the kitchen, even before we saw our food, was enough to send a few tender palettes running to the restroom. And of those who were left, the first bite or two of this delicacy finished off at least 50% of our team.

Much to our relief, our kind hosts in that particular city were young and understanding. And we actually learned that they were watching us to see how we would do with the blood sausage, almost as a prank. They told us later that this isn't really what they would ever normally eat, but it was a food eaten mostly by the older generation who probably learned to eat such things during bleaker economic times.

Now, imagine with me that the government of Germany noticed that some old established blood sausage factory in (let's just say) Berlin was in danger of going out of business because the growing younger generation was no longer buying or eating their product. Now let's say that the government decided to supplement the blood sausage factory's budget so that they could stay afloat and continue to produce the legendary and nostalgic blood sausage.

You would think that the German government was full of complete idiots! Wouldn't you!?

Well, now there is legislation being introduced to change the tax status of newspapers so that they could continue to operate even though people aren't buying their newspapers. Do you know why people aren't buying their newspapers? Because people got computers. Do you know why people don't buy blood sausage? Because everything else tastes better than blood sausage.

This is like that.

Yesterday, following a full day wherein President Obama made his picks for the Final Four and then visited some manufacturers of "greener" cars, the president made an appearance on The Tonight Show, with Jay Leno. President Obama didn't say anything particularly new or different, and he was actually quite funny a couple of times. Too bad he's the president and not a public entertainer.

Let me just say - this is the first thing - that public appearances are fine, and it's nice to let the nation see that you're a nice guy, but if you're the president of the United States of America, and your country is facing a potential depression, i would personally like to know that you are in meetings in deep dark corners of the white house at least 20 hours of the day, discussing and searching to find a real solution for the problems that have been caused BY THE GOVERNMENT.

That was the first thing.

The second thing is that i think that all the president's big public appearances today were all just a distraction. Because the day before yesterday, the decision was made that in order to help our financial situation, we will "buy" $1 Trillion in debt from our own treasury. If that sounds funny to you, it should. I'm no economist, but my understanding is that that means, we've decided to print an extra trillion dollars. We don't have the gold to back it. We're just going to print it. Someone said, "isn't that bad?" Yes, it is. Do you remember the verse in Revelation that mentions "a quart of wheat for a day's wages?" Well, i think that this is how you get there. Printing paper money without actual gold to back it makes the worth of the dollar in the world's economy much much cheaper. This is the tipping point.

That was the second thing.

To read more about this and to get a better layman's explanation, visit Glenn Beck's website here.

Not too many posts the last few days.

The reason is that sometimes i'm just overwhelmed with the grand number of things --happening, or being reported by the media, or being advertised on television -- that i should be objecting to. And when i get overwhelmed, as described, it is so much easier to bury my head in the sand. But then i have to remember that when good people bury their heads in the sand in order to comfort themselves, they tend to allow really horrific things to happen. For example, the holocaust, slavery, and the legalization of abortion and removal of prayer from American schools.

The "sand" can be many things. It can be intentional ignorance, "i don't watch the news; it's always bad news." The sand can be self-comforting platitudes to help us believe that "everything's going to be o.k." And in a country where we have faced so little true adversity, it's easy to believe that "what's happening over there doesn't affect me." People like me have to make a decision to get out of the sand and face adversity with hope and courage and action.

I am a hopeless optimist, meaning i seem to be able to find a good side in everything, and i immediately, upon hearing bad news, want to see the good side to everything. I do that because, well because it's my nature, but also because hopelessness is useless and destructive.

And so is intentional ignorance and careless complacency.

I always agree that in every situation Christians should trust God. And trusting God includes asking Him to lead us in how to be prepared for the difficult times that are coming. And if you are a Christian, it includes asking God to use you. It does not mean that if we trust God that all the bad circumstances are going to magically disappear, and we'll be back at the mall on Tuesday.

On March 7, David Wilkerson, a widely respected Christian minister, shared with the readers of his blog, what he called an URGENT MESSAGE from God, warning Christians that hard times are coming and giving some instruction on how to prepare for them. This message spread pretty quickly. In fact, i actually heard a little bit about it on Glenn Beck's t.v. program, which really surprised me. But for many Christians, it incited panic.

David Wilkerson's blog posts following the Urgent Message clearly demonstrated that the message was about getting THROUGH tough times, and not a message to say, "here's how it's all going to go down, and there's nothing you can do about it." It was a message of warning but also of comfort and peace.

What i'm trying to say is, first, realize that our willful ignorance and platitudes have allowed the moral decline of our nation and our government. And second, please take action. I don't mean you need to incite a riot against evil politicians. I mean, sit up, take a look around, and realize that you can influence people. Give people hope. If you are a Christian, pray and ask God to show you where you can be useful to change the world you live in for the better; look around and see that there are opportunities all around you. And if you are not a Christian, well, reconsider.

"All that is necessary for the furtherance of evil is that good men do nothing."
-- Edmund Burke, an 18th Century statesman

I would like to share with you an article written by a friend of mine, concerning genetically modified organisms and crops. I have heard very little on this subject but found it very interesting. I would love to hear your thoughts and if you have other resources on this subject. If i had heard of some of this stuff, i would've thought it was a joke.

Say No To GMOs!!!
by Laura Hoyt

Monday, November 10, 2008


Playing God with the Environment

Christians must realize that protecting the environment from genetically modified crops or GMOs is essential for today and future generations. First, genetically modified crops increase genetic pollution. Next, it is unknown how GMO crops will affect our health and our environment. Last, whoever is in control of the food will control the world. Christians must take a stand against this evil tactic.

Many Christians are unaware of genetically modified organisms. "A genetically modified organism is a plant, animal or microorganism whose genetic code has been altered (What is a GMO?)." This allows plants and animals that can not mate the ability to transfer genes (What is a GMO?). Scientists are making changes to God's creation by mixing and matching genes. The Center of Food Safety states, "…biotechnologist have engineered novel creations, such as potatoes with bacteria genes, "super" pigs with human growth genes, fish with cattle growth genes, and tomatoes with flounders genes…"

Genetically modified crops cause genetic pollution. More GM crops are being produced that are able to resist viruses and insects. They are also more tolerant to herbicides (Economist 63). This may sound wonderful but there are two problems. When plants with herbicide resistant traits from the engineered crops transfer these traits to other related plants it can cause super weeds (Shiva72). The article "Genetically Engineered Foods Should Not Be Produced" states, "Superweeds could lead to "bio-invasions," displacing local diversity and taking over the entire ecosystems (Shiva73)." The second problem is that farmers will have to use more chemicals to kill these weeds. Hightower offers this fact, "More than 100 pesticides are now in the ground water in 40 different states… (Taylor)."

There is no certainty how GM crops will effect our health or the environment. Farmers are growing these crops all across America and we do not know the affects on humans or the environment. In the article "Genetically Engineered Food" it says that up to 45 percent of U.S. corn and 85 percent of soybeans are genetically modified. It says that around 70 percent of processed foods at the grocery stores have genetically modified ingredients (The Center for Food Safety). It is not even known if there will be risk in eating these foods. The Center for Food Safety states, "…the use of genetic engineering in agriculture could lead to uncontrolled biological pollution, threatening numerous microbial, plant and animal species with extinction…" This is very dangerous because it could damage many cycles. In the article "Genetically Engineered Foods Should Not Be Produced" Shiva explains that Superpests are another problem with GM foods. She tells how Monsanto and other corporations are inserting a toxic Bt bacteria gene in plants (Shiva74). Shiva states, "This particular Bt gene produces a toxin that disables insects, and the genetically engineered Bt plants are thus able to produce their own pesticide (74)." This has been going on since 1996 (Shiva 74). Monsanto has made many believe that farmers will not have to use as much pesticides because of this Bt; however, the truth is they will need to continue using non-Bt cotton and pesticide sprays on these resistant plants. This just increases the use of chemicals. This will cause further extinction of many valuable insects used for pollination. Eight species of insects now have a resistance to Bt toxins (Shiva 75). Oleary states, "Playing God with creation of food may have dangerous ramifications for the environment." The Center for Food Safety says that congress has not passed any law to manage GMOs.

Many Christians do not even know about genetically modified crops. I was also, unaware of it until my baby began breaking out with sever eczema and constipation. The doctors claimed it was from detergents and soaps, but I discovered this was not the problem. His problem continued on for a year. Soon I started looking into my child's nutrition because of a Christian health speaker named Doug Kaufman at www.knowthecause.com . We began to eliminate all the foods and add them back one at a time. Our discovery was amazing. We found out that our child breaks out anytime he eats a product with soy or peanuts. Almost all processed foods and even baby formula contain soy. This puzzled me, so I started to research about soy. That is when I found out that all soy is genetically modified. I learned that sometimes people are not allergic to soy but it may be the other genes that scientist are injecting them with. When scientist put genes into different species it can cause health risk (Economist 63). The Economist even goes as far as saying that soybeans that have been given brazil nut genes my produce an allergic reaction. Soybeans are in thousands of food products and if it is not spotted can cause life threatening situations (Economist 63). This is possibly why my son is unable to eat soy without an allergic reaction. This is dangerous because people who are allergic to certain foods will not know if there food has been altered are not. Imagine not knowing if an apple is really an apple or an apple with shrimp genes.

Lastly, whoever controls the crops will control the world. Seeds have already been patented and modified in America. In the article "Monsanto's Harvest of Fear" it explains how farmers have saved seeds for thousands of years. The United States Patent and Trademark Office would not patent seeds for many years because they considered them life forms. That all has changed since the 1980s. Monsanto has become the world leader in genetically modified seeds and has over 674 biotechnology patents (Bartlett and Steele). Unfortunately it does not stop there. Monsanto is still trying to access more patents and take more control. The article "Monsanto's Harvest of Fear" shows how powerful this company really is. Farmers who by the patented seeds from Monsanto are required to sign an agreement that they will not save the seed produced after the harvest. They are not allowed to replant or sell the seed to other farmers. This means that farmers must now buy seeds every year. Monsanto has produced modified seeds for soybeans, corn, canola, and cotton. They are working on sugar beets and alfalfa (Bartlett and Steele). Bartlett and Steele state, "This company is also seeking to extend its reach into milk production by marketing an artificial growth hormone that increases their output, and it is taking aggressive steps to put those who don't want to use growth hormone at a commercial disadvantage." This is very scary. The article also states that the company, Monsanto is buying up seed companies. They have paid big money for these large seed companies. As of today, Monsanto is the largest seed company in the world (Bartlett and Steele). Bartlett and Steele state, "Whoever provides the world's seeds controls the world's food supply."

In conclusion, it is clear that there is a need to protect the environment from GMO crops. Christians should not sweep this under the rug any more. In Genesis 1:28 God said, "…Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth…(New American Standard Bible)." God has given us the authority to subdue and dominate his creation. We have the responsibility as overseers of God's creation to protect it. We must speak out and let others know about the secrets that are hidden in our food here in America. It is also important to write representatives about GMO issues. We must be aware of future modifications that will continue to go through congress on a daily basis. We also need to pray for our representatives to make wise choices. We may not be able to go back to the way things once were but each family can start taking action in their own homes. Start growing gardens with non-GM seeds, and learn how to save the seeds to pass down to future generations.
***************************************************************************

Works Cited

Bartlett, Donald L. and James B. Steele. "Monsanto's Harvest of Fear." Vanity Fair

May 2008.

Economist. "Genetically Engineered Foods Should Be Produced." 2001.Cothran 63.

Cothran, Helen, ed. Global Resources: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003.

New American Standard Bible, La Habra: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.

Oleary, Denyse. "Genetically Engineered Foods – Unholy Harvest?" all-creatures.org.

3 Nov. 2008. .

Shiva,Vandan. "Genetically Engineered Foods Should Not Be Produced." 2000.

Cothran 72-75.

Taylor, Monette. "Jim Hightower Attacks 'Monasanto's Intimidation' of Farmers

and Their Crops." Say No to GMOs. 18 Oct. 2001. 3 Nov. 2008 .

The Center for Food Safety. "Genetically Engineered Food." 3 Nov. 2008 .

What is a GMO? 6 Nov. 2008 .

In today's economy, more and more Americans are or should be turning to organization such as Freecycle(TM) or Craigslist to find free or cheap used items from others in their communities. I've been a member of Freecycle(TM) for about a year now. I've acquired perfectly good used appliances, kitchen items, and a very unusual cat, who i have come to love dearly - all for free. I've also gotten to give away gardening items, siding, scrap appliances, and household items to very grateful receivers.

The point of Freecycle(TM), in particular, is to keep usable items out of the landfill by giving them to others who might benefit from them. Sometimes when the person offering is describing the item being offered, the advertisement is kind of funny, and it's a good thing they're not asking money for this stuff.

I've collected a few funny or entertaining ads that i've read, for your entertainment.

Here's a fun one: the free haircut

Im a licenced cosmetologist working for (named company) and looking for ppl interested in getting a free haircut Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10am-1pm ONLY. I would be cutting your hair shoulder length adding some layers. Serious inquiries only.

From Dillards and very old. This was my sister's and it is in bad shape. She had dogs, it is dirty, and it has some worn areas and a few tears. A super cleaning and some sewing, it will be a nice sectional for someone having nothing otherwise.

I repeat. This sectional is not in good shape at all. But free is free.

Must pick up tonight. No smoking, if that matters.

Free hot tub shell only, no pumps,heaters,etc. It is approximately 11 ft. x 7 ft. Has some scratches and needs cleaning. Refurbish it, use it for a koi fish pond? The possibilities are endless.
The fact is that you NEED it.

Mecca brand reversible coat, one side camo and the other black. Medium size. Would like for it to go to a cute hip-hop guy who can pull off the intended look.

Please read the whole thing... First needs to be picked up between 6-
6:30 today. you do not have to take all. these are bags of girl
clothes from newborn and up to bigger size no i do not know did not
look. also bags of stuffed animals and toys. okay now the catch these
were in a container that has take in water no not all got wet but most
did. you are welcome to what you want the rest will go to the burn
pile. the wet clothes just need to be wash with bleach to get the
smell out. toys also bleached from dirt.

FREE: horrible, uncomfortable twin mattress
Yes, that's right, I am giving away the worst mattress known to man for the unbeatable price of FREE. "This sounds like a horrible offer," you say. Au contraire, sir. Allow me to explain:

Do you have relatives coming to visit soon? Do you hate these relatives? Perhaps your mother-in-law is on her way in to town or your sister who tried to steal your boyfriend back in high school is coming. What better way to passive-aggressively torture these unwanted guests than to outfit the guest bed with a sheet of granite cleverly disguised as a mattress? They will never want to visit you again after spending a weekend in your torture chamber of a guest room.

Perhaps you like a firm sleeping surface, but are frowned upon for sleeping on the floor. Think you can't find anything harder than hardwood? Try this mattress! Don't waste your money on a "sleep number bed" with the firmness turned all the way up. In time, the air in the mattress will start to leak and the mattress will go soft. This mattress will NEVER go soft!

This is a very high quality mattress. It was purchased at Gallery Furniture, so you know you're getting something good. There are no stains on it ..., but if you want me to make up a really gross backstory for the mattress to make you feel even more evil for taking it, I can do that. I have a very good imagination and will go all out.

All you have to do to acquire this mattress is drive out here and get it. I understand there is probably a very high demand for a mattress of this quality, so please be patient if I do not reply right away. Please include a story of why you need a horrible mattress if you like. We can share our sadness together.

Pick up only. I think this mattress would melt my car with all the evil it contains if I were to try to deliver it to you anyways.

Yesterday was the We Surround Them event i told you about.

I watched it, and i was pleased with how it turned out.

The pictures that were sent in to the show were thousands. They didn't say how many came in. What they did say is that onslaught of pictures being submitted shut down the FoxNews server FIVE TIMES and that the mosaic you can see here is made up of about ONE TENTH of the pictures that came in.

The show was simple, not dramatic. But it was touching and impactful to me. First, i have great respect Glenn Beck. It seems to me that it takes great courage to be someone who works for a news network (Fox or not) to stand up on national television and do something honest and forthwright and transparent. To say, "i love this country, and i fear for it," and to make the appeal to the nation to pull together and talk about what's happening and what can be done.

Basically, that's what he did. He said that when it comes down to it, faith in God is the most important thing to survival, and that family is next, and that those of us who think alike are bigger than those who don't, and we need to stand up and be heard.

Glenn also announced the opening of a new website, www.the912project.com. The numbers 912 refer to the day after 9-11, the day when Americans said they would never forget. The website is meant to be an online community where you can connect with conservative Americans and where you can be educated about the day's events.

I hope you'll check it out and find a venue to speak truth.

If only, to have been in the room when some very out of his/her mind courageous advertising person said to a very well-paid business executive, "let's get a llama!"



What?!