I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Ducky-thank you for your post. Except for the part where you said you voted for Bush, that could have been written by me. All my thoughts exactly.

Mary 

Now how about a good roar to motivate me to get up and go do stuff?

Momine ... hahaha ... not exactly what I had in mind.   

Not buying the innocent look   I thought that was Depends ... do they have Serenity ones too? 

Perhaps I should go change that to Zen Bench?

^{Lots of sisters don't know this, but this thread is actually the third or fourth iteration. Previous threads that discussed politics were closed by moderators because our resident troll and her friends would report us, have our posts deleted and get some of us banned. A few were stalked and harassed and intimidated into not posting. I am speaking up for those personally affected, and who now feel free to discuss important issues. Believe me, I am no one for serenity for serenity's sake, but there's been many bloodbaths in previous years that many people who haven't been here a really long time don't know about. I don't know about some of them myself. There are real consequences. People who were never banned or harassed may view things differently...I don't know. We even set up a fundraising thread to stop cyber-bullying. The funds were needed to help the moderators install electronic systems that would enable them to ensure more fair reporting. Much as changed in BCO in the last year or two, partly thanks to our work and the outcry on numerous threads. However, the situation is still delicate and we are being watched carefully by the mods, who receive many complaints from troll-land. The mods are in a very tough position. We haven't always agreed with some of the calls they've made. But as long as this person keeps coming and being engaged, we risk more calls by the mods we don't like, and people get hurt. So it's much more than about "honesty" etc.... We can say what we want - just don't engage the troll.}

^{Yes, we are adults - it should be as simple as "hey, we're just talking." It isn't that simple at all. For "just talking" good people have disappeared.}

Athena, I was just trying to add some levity and change the subject. Sorry if it seemed flippant.

Momine, no it didn't - my apologies to you, then. I thought you were not aware of our history because many people are not.

Levitate away! :-)

Thanks I may not know the particulars of the situation, but I have been on various message boards for about 15 years and have lived through some idiotic board wars, so I can sort of sense the situation. 

Ooooooommmmmmmmmm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO8HI884_zI 

Head/desk...how many patients have I seen over the years who can't afford thier medicines. Yes, some meds are cheap. Then there are the required doctors visists to check blood levels to ensure the meds are correct, there are testing strips for diabetes and supplies, and when you are really poor, that 10 bucks you might spend for insulin (it's more than that over all) may just have to go to pay the light bill this month. Poverty is a very complex issue, intertwined with poor health, lack of education, lack of support systems that we better-offers don't have to worry about.

I probably should have just ignored, but I can't. Sorry, gals.

Hi, all, Lots of room on my Block/Ignore Bench - free Depends too.  I still have a lot left over from my chemotherapy days - had to toss the bottles of Immodium, w-a-a-y outta date stamp, but lotsa new bottles, just in case.  Lots of Serenity, happiness on the Bench.  Plenty of room to park our scooters nearby...

Oh, I do wish there could be a get together soon..

What Ducky said....and one of the images that still brings warm & happy tears to my eyes, is one of little Sasha ( she was little 4 years ago) sitting in the back seat of a Huge Black SUV, on her way to first days at school ( Sidwell Friends, where many of my friends kids have gone & still go) and there she was, sitting & a little bit wary looking  out at all the photographers and the motorcycles, secret service -  and I had a FLASH BACK of the image Norman Rockwell memorialized - of 4 little girls in their crisp white dresses being "escorted" to school in the USA lo' what seems like a million years ago - and I wonder where those girls are today, and if they can feel how much their courage, dignity have meant to bringing us where we are today.

And HERE we are with the daughter of the President of the United States, looking a bit like those 4 little girls, but Sasha was the one being GUARDED,escorted, because her father was so important to the world that his family had to be protected too!

I have a new idea for a bumper sticker: Beware of Bored Trolls. 

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to stop by and wish Lassie a very happy birthday!

I don't like to get involved in political discussions ... but, having said that, I'm going against my own policy.  I don't think Patmom's statement about free diabetic medicine holds water.  She obviously does not live in a poor area like I do with 24% unemployment.

Hope everyone is having a good day.

Bren

Dh called me on 9/11, when he heard the news about the first plane. It was already afternoon here, and I was on my way to pick dd up from school. It was the first time in dd's life that we turned on the news in the middle of the day while she was around and awake  and sat there gawking at it. At first, like most people, we thought it was an accident. Then we saw the second plane hit and we immediately realized the enormity of what was happening.

Athena thank you for your post on the board history.  I have a better understanding of the "rules" of engagement now.

Alexandria -  your post about 911 reminds me how differently we all experienced that day depending on our geography.  I got to work early that day, but being 3 hours behind on the Pacific coast, the attack was well underway by the time I got there.  As soon as I walked in, the only coworker there told me something big was happenning in NYC and the internet was down.  Being the news junkie I am, I turned around and went home to watch the news.  I took the day off while most went to work and treated it just like another day, atleast outwardly.  

I was at work in a building very close to the Capitol, just a block off the Mall. I was in a executive staff meeting with the leadership of my agency. We heard about the first airplane when a secretary came in to tell us. Like everyone, we thought it was a small plane, like a Piper Cub. Then she came to tell us about the second airplane, and then that there was an "explosion" at the Pentagon. I went back to my office to change my shoes and leave for home, and I watched the first tower fall on my office TV as I tied my shoes. It took me a couple hours to get home - I got a ride with a colleague who lived near me. We sat on Constitution Avenue for about 45 minutes, staring at the smoke rising from the Pentagon and watching attack helicopters fly over the Potomac. My husband was scheduled for a pre-surgery physical that day for back surgery to repair a catastrophic injury he suffered at work. He had to drive himself to the doctor because I was late getting home. I followed him there and while I was waiting, spoke with a woman who was desperately trying to call her husband who worked at the Pentagon. She had been in a devastating automobile accident some months before and was at the doctor's office for a checkup. He had dropped her off and popped down the road to the Pentagon -- she didn't know if he would be coming back. I stayed up all night weeping, watching the TV, desperately hoping they would find someone alive in the rubble.

Yes-how bizarre that this is page 911.

I was in Victoria, B.C. with my mom. We had spent the previous night there, and had gotten up and had breakfast and went out to do some shopping. At one shop, the salesperson asked where we were from and we told her Seattle. She then told us what was happening in New York and elsewhere. This was at about noon Pacific time-so about 9:00 Eastern time. It was so surreal. No one had said anything to us before this, and we didn't have the TV on in our hotel room when we got up.

My kids were in school back home in Seattle, and my husband was at work. I didn't have a cell phone at the time, so I had to try and make an international pay phone call, which took numerous tries. My mom and I had already checked out of our hotel. We heard rumors that we would not be allowed to go back to the US on the boat if we didn't have passports. In those days, no one took a passport to Canada. We thought for sure we were stuck there. We finally were allowed to board the boat, after customs thoroughly checked our baggage and driver's licenses, and we got back home to Seattle only about 3 hours later than planned.

I was so glad to be home with my family. What I most remember about that day and the days afterward was the lack of airplanes, except for the fighter jets that kept flying over, day and night.

Mary 

Okay, here's my story.  I was in downtown Toronto at an early morning meeting at the Royal Bank.  Just before 9 a.m., a secretary came into the meeting and whispered something in the Bank Vice-Chairman's ear (he was chairing the meeting), and he adjourned the meeting and excused himself.  Going back to my office, the cabbie told me about a (probably) small plane flying into one of the WTC towers.

Back in the office, someone had turned on the TV and as I came through the door, I heard a loud gasp.  Second plane...no accident...we were all just so stunned.

There was a major charity event that was to take place that evening at Skydome (the retractable roof stadium that the Blue Jays play in).  Skydome is adjacent to the CN Tower, which is a major communications tower.  The event was cancelled immediately, under the advice of the authorities, because it was feared that the Tower might be a target.

Then we heard about the plane in Pennsylvania, and the other one at the Pentagon.

So, even up here in the GWN, we were both stunned and scared.  I found out later that a friend had accompanied her DH to NYC as he was to attend a meeting at  the Cantor Fitzgerald offices.  He died in the explosion and she was 5 months' pregnant.  She did marry again a few years later, so her son has a father.

Like all of you, I will never, ever forget that day; the days following are a blur.....