Tornado Tragedy in the South

I am saddened by all the deaths due to tornadoes in Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas etc. I wish the victims could have been more aware of the situation. The best ways to protect yourself are to be aware, pay attention, and have a good plan for shelter. One of the easiest ways to be aware in my opinion is to have a weather radio, especially a portable one with batteries. They are affordable and can be set to alarm when dangerous weather is expected or coming. They are most useful when you are asleep and can wake you up or you live in a rural area without sirens.
Some of these tornadoes came in the early morning hours when the victims were asleep, the most dangerous time. I have purchased weather radios from Radio Shack and they are available at many other locations. Darla

Lightning, Thunder, Ice=Awesome

Fabulous February weather! I drove someone from Jefferson and Veterans area to 11th and Ash area as pea sized hailstones fell while lightning sparkled and thunder roared. Just beautiful man! Better than football on tv! Darla

Tangential, eh?

Governor Blago says the federal probe into wrongdoing in his administration or him is tangential, and not relevant to the people of Illinois (see http://www.sj-r.com/extras/breaking/index.asp#4126). Check this out, tangential. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1).

Retrieved January 02, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tangential –adjective

1.	pertaining to or of the nature of a tangent; being or moving in the direction of a tangent.

2.	merely touching; slightly connected: tangential information.

3.	divergent or digressive, as from a subject under consideration: tangential remarks.

4.	tending to digress or to reply to questions obliquely.

I say perhaps this statement fall under meanings #2,#3 and # 4

Therefore, using his own statement, the probe is relevant to the people of Illinois. Darla

Minor Ode to Benazir Bhutto

I am no Pakistan expert but I remember when Benazir Bhutto was first elected to be Prime Minister of Pakistan, I could not believe a Muslim nation elected a female leader before my good old USA did (and still has not). Not only that, she was pregnant. Now I do believe she had a few faults, but she was one damn courageous woman who stood up for what she believed. She knew she would be targeted for death if she came back to her homeland and went anyway. That is pure guts. I never have too many heroes or heroines but she is right up there. Darla

Adult Bullies and how to handle them when not avoidable

All my 42 years have been sprinkled with bullies, both as a child and an adult. I have been thinking about this since yesterday when my sob of a brother in law played a rude and demeaning joke with me and I did not catch it. I never do. In this case I reacted poorly, obviously he was successful in pushing my buttons. My problem is I really do not know what to call his behavior and I told him to quit f***ing with me, in front of everyone, including children. That was my fault in this. In my opinion what he does is and old fashioned form of control oriented humiliation type of "joking" in which he makes you thing one thing, you are prompted to apologize, and then some time later, reveals the "joke". I have always hated this type of behavior, and I never "get" it. I know the best way to deal with this is to ignore it, as I usually do. But this caught me off guard. I have always hated this type of "joking", in j0kes, or most types of joking as I just do not get it. I will be trying to learn more about this, and try to remove myself as a target. Any sincere advice will be appreciated! Darla

Goodbye Evel!

Goodbye Evel Knievel, I did not not pay attention to you lately but when younger I spent hours with my siblings and neighborhood kids reenacting your stunts on our bikes. Jumping ditches, flying over trashcans, flying down hills into traffic, jumping off the barn roof, oh the thrills we had emulating your fearlessness. Our parents however were not amused, when arms got broken, or property damage occurred. Thank you for living your life like you did and for inspiring all those crazy childhood stunts we carried out, pop a wheelie out there man! Darla

Family values indeed!

Oh this angers me so much. Another total hypocrite! Mr. Craig states "I am not gay, I have never been gay. I love my family, my wife, family values". Ok, first of all, who says gays cannot have family values? Why is that impossible? Second, why have there been "rumors" he was having sex with males since 1982? Thirdly, what is it that he was doing in the airport bathrooms? How come Mr. Family Values did not tell his wife about his arrest, I would think if he loved his family so much he would have told them, it is kind of important don't you think? Also, if he did have sex with strangers, is that not putting his wife at risk for STDs and Hiv, and other diseases? That is some real family values right there. If he was a real man, straight, gay, bisexual, or whatever, he would be truthful with those who care and not lie. I never heard of this fellow before this, and if I did, it did not stick to my brain. Frankly I do not care who he has had sex with, I really do not. I am just so tired of these pompous politicians blowing it out their pie holes about family values, and then do things that do not fall under that category. Darla, grr