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hedgehog

hedgehog's Journal
hedgehog's Journal
October 14, 2015

As a mother paying off Parent Plus loans and watching my kids try

to pay off student loans; all from attending public college, I have to ask: What job did Chelsea work while she was at college, and how many hours a week?

I wouldn't bring up Chelsea except for the fact that Hillary Clinton says my children should have worked 10 hours a week while at college.

October 9, 2015

What are the odds for a coalition selecting the Speaker?

Can you see some conservative Dems lining up with some Republicans to select a Speaker?

October 5, 2015

The problem is that too many gun owners are more afraid of ****CRIMINALS**** and/or

the ******GOVERNMENT***** than they are of massacres. Seriously, these people firmly believe that they are targeted by thieves, rapists and murderers and that they alone will be responsible for protecting themselves, their families and their belongings. Exactly what the government is going to do I don't know, but these people are absolutely convinced that they will need their guns to resist. (I was going to put some snark about Red Dawn here, but I think we need to address these fears seriously.)

Anyways - until we can get these people past these very primal fears, we won't make much progress with gun control. Nothing happened after 1963, then nothing happened after 1968, then nothing happened when even George Wallace was shot. I haven't been shocked by gun violence in many, many years.

October 4, 2015

Date Rape in the movies -

I finally got around to watching The Devil Wears Prada (2006) last night. In one subplot, a handsome writer pursues the heroine, Andrea, even though she lives with her boy friend. She doesn't want to date him, but he says she "owes" him after he's done an important favor for her.

They run into each other in Paris during fashion week, and she goes to dinner with him and has too much to drink. Afterward, he propositions her several times, and she turns him down, even going so far as to say she's had to much to drink. The next scene shows her waking up after spending the night with him. Her only concern is getting to work on time, followed by the discovery that he knows her boss is about to be replaced. There's no mention of the sexual encounter.

So there you have it - a Rom-Com from only 9 years ago that features a sexual encounter in which the female is clearly unable to give proper consent. It's given a light-hearted treatment.

Is this date rape? If so, what message is being sent out to young men?

September 17, 2015

Defunding Planned Parenthood - what does that mean?

Does Planned Parenthood get only Medicaid money, or are there direct subsidies?

Last night, several Republican candidates claimed to have defunded Planned Parenthood. What does that mean, and why are we only hearing about this now?

My understanding is that one reason Planned Parenthood is so important is that in many locations, it is the only clinic accepting Medicaid patients. Which raises the question - if states refused to allow Medicaid patients to go to PP clinics, where did all those patients go?

September 16, 2015

Is there a kitchen layout that doesn't involve

an L or U shaped counter around an island?

September 15, 2015

watching Donald Trump speak in Dallas - all I could think of was

old news reel footage of Mussolini. The gestures, the head nodding, the facial expressions were the same.My husband and I decided what they have in common is that both are bullies.

September 14, 2015

Wealth redistribution needs a new name - Responsible Wealth maybe?

Wealth redistribution sounds like we take money from the Walton family and send everyone a check for $1.58. In fact, wealth redistribution means taking the cap off Social Security contributions to keep the fund solvent forever. It means raising Social Security benefits with inflation to support the elderly. It means decent retirement ages with decent benefits. It means investment in infrastructure and education. It means that the minimum wage is a living wage.

September 4, 2015

Hearing aid info needed: I'm being offered

hearing aids with 48 channels, 32 or 24. Are the additional channels worth the higher price? The range is the same for all the models, just more distinct frequencies amplified.

September 3, 2015

I thought I was out of it when I thought BLM meant Bureau of Land Management - but

I'm way ahead of some people who seem to think BLM means "Open season on cops". How did people come to perceive a movement meant to rein in trigger happy cops as one encouraging people to shoot cops? It's time for the good cops to step up and support BLM and get rid of the bad apples. (and maybe start requiring drug tests for steroids and amphetamines! Now that's a war on drugs I could support)

Profile Information

Gender: Female
Hometown: Oswego County, New York
Home country: USA
Current location: Lake Ontario Snow Belt
Member since: Fri Apr 23, 2004, 11:56 PM
Number of posts: 36,286

About hedgehog

I've been a female working a "man's job" (mechanical engineer), stay at home Mom (6 kids), working Mom (6 kids to put through college), unemployed, underemployed, temporarily employed and now working from home! We live on an old, small farm with 2 dogs and 2 cats in the house, variable number of chickens out in the yard.
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