Okay, I'm slightly confused here.

If I'm wrong, MsHarmony, please forgive me. Are you really arguing AGAINST voter ID? You actually OPPOSE a person having to show a picture ID to vote legally?

You seem to agree you should need ID to register, correct? But yet you don't want them to give you a specific voter ID WHEN you register, one with YOUR picture on it, and YOUR signature on it, so that when you show up to actually vote at your precinct, the officials can compare your picture to your person and verify your identity? Instead you argue that you should just show the ID when you register and get a card that is basically worthless as far as identifying an individual. I could give my card to any female and she could say she was me and how would they know at the precinct? They wouldn't. Not that I would ever do that but with the current system, I could! That certainly doesn't seem right. I just don't see how it's discriminatory to anyone to require ID to vote.

I have to show an ID to cash a check anywhere. I have to have picture ID to board an airplane. You're okay with having to show photo ID to GET a non-photo voter card, but not with getting an actual photo voter ID? And I wonder why I work myself into a tizzy trying to figure things out...

and

After picturing myself with the pillow over my head trying to drown out the snoring of the man beside me, my first instinct is to scream YES! That would be lovely!

But no way. I couldn't handle it. I need to touch my man. I don't care if it's just my big toe on his big toe. I'd prefer draping an arm or leg around him, or him around me, but I just wanna be touching someone I love when I drift off to neverland. Somehow I actually feel like the love flows between us and is stronger somehow when we touch, if that makes any sense. Yah, I'm strange and I know it.

I step in when I get that funny little feeling in my stomach that tells me something is just not right. I can generally differentiate between a parent dealing with an unruly child and one that's out of control and being abusive. I would NOT stand for abuse, of a child, of an elderly person, of any person for that matter. I'd rather die trying to help someone then walk away and live with myself after doing nothing.

I like the fish pictures better than the no shirt mirror shots where they're holding the camera. It's like they don't even have ONE friend to take a picture of them.

Those guys should go fishing. There's pretty good camaraderie amongst fishermen and you'd end up with a fish picture instead of a mirror shot.

Wait. I got boobs. Do I gotta have ALL those things above or just boobs to attract you simplistic men? Please say just boobs...my tight booty took a long walk years ago and hasn't come back yet. If y'all see her while you're on your way now that you're not lost, send her home please. She is missed deeply.

My point exactly! Why do we even have such an asinine distinction? Murder is murder, whites or blacks involved. Isn't the murder itself evidence of hate? Why does it have to be against 'the other' race for it to be a hate crime? Aren't we all of the human race? I used to think so...not so sure anymore...

Hate crime or not? What difference does it make? The kid is still dead. His family is still grieving. His friends and strangers alike are still horrified about this tragedy, and rightly so. What does it matter what color he or the shooters were? I'm so sick of the battle of the statistics, of the finger pointing and name calling, of the excuses made for why the murdering thugs did it, so lets give 'em a break and feel bad for them instead of the victims!

Is it a hate crime? I'd say yes no matter whether it was racially motivated or not. Anyboday shooting anybody else for no reason has nothing but hate in their hearts. Period. End of story. Enough already about race. Murderers are murderers and they deserve death for taking life. It's that simple, or at least it SHOULD be...

Agreed that the media is biased. They show what they want to incite racial tensions. They pick and choose what stories to sensationalize in order to boost ratings. They're mostly all owned by the same corrupt entities that run our greedy corrupt government. There's an agenda for them, bet your sweet ***!

The anti-gun nuts are all over this Australian ball player shot in the back..."See, guns kill! Ban 'em all!", which BTW is exactly what our govt is trying to do. Idiocy! The gun didn't pull its own trigger, didn't accidentally go off while the kid jogged by. A few bored teens with no moral conscience decided to USE a gun to kill. And do you think they wouldn't have had a gun if guns were illegal? They just shot someone in the back for no reason! Don't think they really give a damn about the laws of our land, do you?!

Our justice system is a joke. Our educational system is a complete and utter failure. The prisons bear the fruits of these failures. Guys in for years for selling weed. Child molesters released after brief stays. What's wrong with that picture? One smokes a natural plant and harms nobody, might destroy a box of Twinkies or a bag of Oreos. The other destroys a young life forever. Still see nothing wrong?

Education and parenting are the answers. I come from Vermont, one of the safest states in the nation. Murder is rare, as are most other violent crimes, comparatively speaking. Did ya know Vermont has some of the most liberal gun laws in the nation? Coincidence? I think not. EVERYBODY should own a gun, know how to use it, and be prepared to intervene when **** goes down. Fine upstanding citizens outnumber criminals...I'm sure of it! If criminals knew they were going to get return fire, they might be a little more hesitant to whip out that little pea shooter they got off their hoodlum buddy. Take the guns away from law abiding citizens and we are left with what to defend ourselves?

And in case you didn't know this, we have the right to bear arms to protect ourselves from the GOVT, not criminals. That's just an added bonus! There's a reason it's the 2nd amendment...to protect us from the govt taking away all our other rights!

I can tell you this though... If I had been in that parking lot with that old man, I would have shot those boys without a second's hesitation for beating him. I don't care what color the victim or perpetrators were! People need to stand up and take back this country before it's too late.

Rant done. For now. I'm going to go cry at the sorry state of our once great country...

And yet again I am sickened by such tragic news. Another senseless act of brutality on a complete stranger. This poor old guy, my heart just breaks for his family and what he suffered in his last moments. And this coming just days after the news of the young Australian college baseball player shot in the back while jogging because some teens were bored. WTF is going on? When did life become so expendable, so meaningless that anyone can just snuff out another's life for no reason at all. And I don't care if the perps are black, white, green or polka dotted...how can you just kill someone with no remorse? I don't understand. I just don't understand...

Probably should post a real response while I'm at it...

Marriage isn't for me. It's a piece of paper. A contract between state and couple, not man and woman. Government is already invasive enough. They can remain out of my love life.

Commitment is made with your heart. I want my man free to leave, there because he chooses to be with me everyday. I don't need to marry him to know that he won't find someone else. If I treat him right, love him the way he wants to be loved, he won't stray. If he does, I wouldn't want to be married to a piece of **** like that anyways!

I have no problem making a lifetime commitment to someone if we love each other. I'd do it in front of God, in front of family and friends, could handle a ceremony and such, honeymoon would be sweet but I won't get the marriage license from the state. Just my warped thinking. To each their own!

I honestly believe people marry because

1. They're stupid

Totally kidding!!! Seriously. Don't flood my inbox with "how dare you?!" emails. Just being funny with an old friend...marriage is great. Disclaimer: As long as I'm not the one walking down the aisle

Goof! You're still here! Well, not here. I'm here. You're there. I'm not a moron. Okay, I am but that's beside the point.

So you're getting married 'cause of #4 right? When are you due?

Thank you for the compliment.

I know why! My mother! She drilled it in my head every night when I was a little girl..."NOBOBY should EVER see you naked!". Now I know she was trying to prevent molestation and had the best of intentions but damn! She coulda thrown in "until you meet a great guy and fall in love" or something along those lines.

I've made some progress over the years but I surely won't be moonlighting as a stripper anytime in the foreseeable future.

Age matters. To me. Here's how I know:

I'm 43 now. Few years back I decided to jump back in the dating game after finishing my tour of duty as a single mom for 18 yrs. I met a hot 25 yr old. Thought "Age is just a number. Shouldn't matter. Go ahead. It'll be fun!" So I did.

So there I am, deed's been done. Lying there after, he's sleeping peacefully beside me when suddenly I hear a loud voice in the dark... "This is a message from God", clear as a bell. I about had a heart attack! I jumped up, ran into the living room, and completely freaked out. I couldn't believe what I heard!

I really thought I had done something wrong, so wrong that it required divine intervention! Turns out the guy had a ringtone of the Blues Brothers on his phone with Jake or Elwood saying "We're on a mission from God".

Apparently age matters to me. And I'm not cougar material!

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Raplh Waldo Emerson

Yes! I absolutely hate having that dream. I always wake up and grab the chompers, give 'em a good yank to make sure they're still firmly in place, and vow to eat more steak while I still can!

I actually have quite a few dreams that recur. When I was younger I was plagued almost nightly by one of Bigfoot creeping down my street and looking in my second story window. But I chalk that one up to watching a 'scary' movie at an impressionable age.

The 'naked in public' one irks me to no end! It's insane too because in the dream I have no compunction at all about walking around with no shirt on and I don't feel embarrassed although people are staring. And I don't even try to cover up, just go strolling along like nobody's business. Totally unlike me too, or at least the awake me that shutters at the thought of being naked in front of anyone!

Traditional marriage does not exist anymore. It has been replaced by conventional marriage now. In this new contract, either party can opt out based solely on whether they are happy or not.

I choose not to participate in such an institution for a variety of reasons, none of which include believing that I can't find someone that can make me happy, and I him, for the rest of our lives. I am more than willing to commit with my heart, I just won't involve the government in the affairs of my heart.

So I agree that we should be free to be with who we want. I just disagree that we should jump ship whenever it tickles our fancy just because our fancies change over time. If two people really love each other, really commit and work on their relationship together and strive every single day to make the other happy, there is no reason we can't mate for life. I know it's an anomaly in the animal kindom, of which we all belong, but it's nice to think that sort of love and commitment still exists within some people. It does, I've seen it, and maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to experience it.

Perhaps I'm slightly jaded now but I'd say committed relationships are somewhat akin to rotary dial phones. They still exist but good look finding one.

Marriage vows used to say stuff like "...love and cherish, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health,... 'til death do us part". Now the vows should be "I do 'til I don't want to anymore, so suck it up buttercup and make me happy or else!"

Disheartening really.

This immediately brought to mind my favorite quote:

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

My life hasn't been perfect, nor would I want it to be. Trials and tribulations make us appreciate joys and happiness when we encounter them. Finding yourself, what makes your boat float, what doesn't, it's all part of the beautiful chaos of life.

I'd change nothing in that I have no regrets, my life has gone as it should, trips through hell and all.