sunnybunny's Comments (362)

“Some kids are more "high maintenance" than others. (I'm talking about a personality type not a disability) If you have a high maintenance kid, it takes a parent capable of giving them intense supervision and guidance to raise them well (teach them ethics as well as manners, keep them out of jail, make sure they take care of their health etc.) If people were willing and able to do this, we could have a lot less problems. Sure lots of kids do fine most of the time with both parents working, but some of the kids, some of the time (and it's a high percentage) really need to have that additional attention.”

“"Somehow the more progress women make the further behind we get."
Especially when we suggest things like that she wouldn't have married him if not for his money. Why? Is he not an attractive interesting person enough for her to fall in love with?”

“I always think of it as an ex who is your childrens father and that is the only reason why he is still in your life. (not necessarily an uninvolved father) Using that term describes the signifigance of the relationship without revealing previous marital status. But I agree using it to refer to a man who is a current husband is incorrect.”

“I think the point is there is a time and place, but they are maybe taking it too far. It depends too on who you are around.”

“• "In words are seen the state of mind and character and disposition of the speaker." "Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly."”

“Self examination in itself is not harmful in any way and costs nothing. It seems to follow logic that self examination followed by the wait and see approach couldn't hurt and might help. Why would this be discouraged?”

“At a cost of $20,000. per job? Just hire people to do something that needs to be done and pay them that salary. Why have this complicated tax credit scheme? Small businesses are unlikely to want to participate in these type of things and unless they are willing, it can't work. There are a lot of services that could be offered to my community that could be done by well qualified people in our community for that price. But we do without these services because they are not profitable so no one goes into business doing it. Like for example, instead of driving 50 miles to Little Rock ( a huge carbon footprint issue that is multiplied by about 900 when you consider how many others in our area commute similar distances) to make some big corporation more money, I could spend my time in my own small town doing something more useful for the same $10 an hour. It would improve the quality of life around here if we had say after school care or counseling services or many different types of things that are trying to be done by volunteers, but there is way too much work and way too few people who have time.I know it's more govt spending, but if they are going to spend the money why not just go directly to creating actual jobs?”

“Wow, casual observation leads me to believe that most type 2 diabetics suffer from an eating disorder. (A one month job at a waffle house a couple of years ago made this perfectly clear - no medical degree necessary). Why would a doctor prescribe medicine and expect someone to follow directions on how to take it correctly, but not expect them to be able to follow their instructions to exercise an hour a day, and cut way down on sugar and fat?”

“It's not just being overweight. It's more the concept that you need a doctor because you're helpless to take care of your own body. We have control over our own habits which can make a huge difference in our health. Unless we take responsibility for our fitness and make that effort, cost will continue to rise.”

“The bottom line is when our kids can't ever play outside because of our lifestyle, it's time to change our lifestyle.”

“Fish you catch yourself ARE organic. The problem here is really huge. If the fish aren't safe, what about the animals who eat fish? This would go clear up the food chain? What does the EPA do? I thought they were supposed to be responsible for these type of things.”

“You are wrong about life expectancy. The averages are thrown off by infant mortality mainly. People aren't living longer. That is completely inaccurate. People have lived long lives for a long time (examples: Daniel Boone 86, Benjamin Franklin 84, Laura Ingalls Wilder 90 , Frederick Douglas 78, Harriet Tubman 91, I could go on) MORE people are living long lives in bad health than used to. It used to be if your health was bad you died sooner so only healthy people lived to be old.Now people live for years with debilitating illnesses that previously would have killed them and now make just them miserable or dependant on medicine to survive. Now, don't take that to mean I don't believe in modern medicine at all or the good it does. I can definitely appreciate that I can feel safe from getting polio or small pox and I won't be having 10 kids just to have 6 of them survive to adulthood etc. But as for overall longevity, they can't take all the credit.”

“Feel free to keep in touch. My profile has a link to my myspace page. Let me know if I can help you in your work. I feel your mission is very important and I would love to contribute.”

“2. I now live in Arkansas.





3.& 4. Very complicated but relevant. To overly simplify:
After years of trying to get fresh start, I finally actually
did. Also, as I said before, sustainability being the key.





5. During all of the time I was homeless, I usually had a job (except for a couple of times when I got welfare to get "un-homeless"), and I NEVER went without bathing - even if I had to do it in a lake or river.”

“It has been may years since I have been homeless. I was caught in a cycle for a long time where I ended up like that again and again.But the key for me to getting out of that cycle and getting to where I am now was to NOT move in the first house I could get or take the first job I could get, but rather holding out for something sustainable. I hope that helps.I think your blog is great and would love to help.
To answer your questions:

1. I have been homeless in several cities - I have divided thesecities into different groups due to vastly different circumstances, but have stayed in :

A) Tampa, FL
kept moving back in with my parents who would throw
me and my kids out on a whim (very dysfunctional
family) Lived in motels and stayed with friends until I
could get together money to rent a place

B) Winston/Salem,NC
Rural Hall, NC
Danbury, NC
unable to secure adequate
stable housing for my family for
a time ended up first living in a
tent until we could afford a motel ,
then renting a house - took about
3 1/2 months

C) Las Vegas, NV , Va Beach, VA , &
All over southern Cali. in the 80's
living in an ongoing situation
that did not include manintaining
a residence.
D) Ithaca NY, Morristown, NJ
(also in 80's) Stayed in a homeless shelter, got
welfare & an apartment for a while”

“Tell me about it. I drive 47 miles one way to work every day to make $10 hr + comm. and I count myself lucky. I hate the carbon footprint I am producing, but it' the best I can do.”

“I have lived outside before. The rent costs is irrelevant if you are not paying rent. it is lot easier to live in a "nice" neighborhood than a less "nice" area if the resources you need aren't available where you are it is nohig to move down th road to a better location. The key is to stay out of sight. In better areas, homeless people who beg in parking lots or otherwise announce their presence are seldom tolerated.”

“You are assuming that people who endorse homeopathy are as ignorant and closed minded regarding traditional medicine as you are regarding homeopathy. That is not always the case.
it isn't an either/or proposition.”

“They made one not long ago. It was modeled after Rosie O'donnell. I don't think it went over well, but what if they had modeled it after America Ferrera, or Jennifer Hudson? It might have worked.”

“Or read " The Immaculate Deception" a very informative book.”

“I think more women that are in good shape and can physically and mentally do it, should consider all natural childbirth But for the about 10-15% of women who actually have real complications, there needs to be appropriate accomodations or we would end up like women in rural africa who have injuries, as well as infant mortality that could be prevented with some proper medical intervention. There should not be a stigma or bias one way or the other, but unecessary medical procedures that produce unpleasant side effects should be avoided whenever possible.”

“Ironically, all the women I know who have had babies in hospitals and had epidurals etc described their birth experience as very painful. I did not have any of these things because I was prepared for a natural home birth and everything went well. I didn't have a very painful birth at all with any of my 3 babies (none of them were big, but they were all over 7lbs and I was under 100lbs both before I got pregnant and shortly after delivery).
A lot of things hurt more than that - for me, a wisdom tooth or a broken bone hurt a lot worse. I would attribute that to the fact that the pain that I did have was directly related to what I was doing and the whole thing lasted only a few hours. I think the fact that I had a good understanding of what was happening and I didn't feel helpless contributed a lot to my positive experience.”

“Except that a company is not a person and therefore can't go to hell. A corporation is a legal entity that's sole purpose for existing is so that no person can be held responsible.”

“This should be a no-brainer huh? When my older kids were little, walking or riding bikes was the norm. But somewhere around the turn of the 21st century kids not only think you're out of line to suggest they walk or bike to school, but also think they need a ride to the bus stop and pretty soon riding the bus even isn't cool? I don't want to spoil my kids in such a stupid way, but when everyone else does what can you do?Traffic is a consideration and very scary - something I noticed in the pictures someone posted here. That is the main obstacle for most people who would prefer to be pedestrians. What can we do about it?”

“This sounds a lot like what happened with the west memphis 3.”