I ask this because inexpensive/grocery meats always seem to require a lot of seasoning/marinade/working with just to taste like chicken or beef or whatever. By the time you whip meat into tastable shape, you've spent enough to have bought organic.(My mother does a lot of cooking, and she notes this problem a lot.) That would also explain part of the obesity problem--the only way to make cheap food taste good is to add salt, corn syrup, etc--which winds up making the food un-nutritious. In any case, whether you get organic or grocery, you are still getting nailed price-wise.

>Suze is a multi-millionaire -- she doesn't have the faintest idea how life is for most people, and doesn't care, either. Ditto for all the other pundits who tell you to "save six months salary" while investing the max in your company 401K plan, and AT THE SAME TIME, saving up 20% down on a $250,000 house, paying cash for your car, and paying your credit card bills off in full each month. Yeah, right.<

_Thank_ you. I have always thought this expectation was unrealistic. When I was working corporate (and making the most money I've ever made), I had entirely too many expenses to save six months of salary. As well, I wasn't making 50K kind of money--more like 25K (publishing doesn't pay all that well. :)). In addition to rent, food, and commuting costs (high as hell in the NYC/NJ area), I was making double monthly payments on my student loan so I could get out from under that debt. My credit card bill was manageable, and every now and then I would pay double the monthly on that. But I preferred to put the money towards the student loan (it freaked me out to be owing that amount of money, so I wanted it off my back ASAP. :)) I wasn't a clotheshorse but I also had to maintain a suitably corporate wardrobe (and we aren't talking designer--we're talking Liz Claiborne and clothes/shoes to fit a tall/big woman...not cheap by any means.) And every time I managed to save up some money, something would happen--the car would break down (I drove a used car of my brother's) or I'd need a checkup, or I'd owe more in estimated/income taxes than I thought I would. When I finally paid off my loan, I became ill--and the hospital expense that wasn't covered by health insurance took what money I had saved up...and led to me having to use my credit card for basic expenses. In short, between meeting my debt obligations and basic necessities and dealing with illness, there was no way I could have saved up six months worth of salary unless I had been smart enough not to get sick--or had forgone college/the student loan in the first place.

>One of the things she said was never ever ever buy a a brand new car. Considering that the thing will lose about 50% of its value in the first three years that seemed like a really smart thing to be telling people.<

Yeah, but with even the best used cars, you are always living in uncertainty. A major brake/transmission problem can run you big bucks--and even a minor problem--a window that won't shut, a brake light that won't go off--ain't exactly cheap when you factor in labor costs.

>The first person in a male's life to traumatize him is his mother. It's "normal," deliberate, and calculated, and is called, "Cutting the apron strings". It is accomplished by means of a to-the-quick psychological and emotional abuse which -- without question -- leaves a lifelong "trauma".<

Could you give more specifics on that? I ask because mothers are also blamed for not sufficiently cutting the apron strings when a man turns out screwed-up.

>Ever discuss with your girlfriends the question, "Why can't men open up?" (Ever notice that it's always about "Does he love me?" and never about "I love him"? All about "getting," and nothing about "giving"?) That trauma is why: we learned very early, and thereafter repeatedly and consistently, that to do so means being BURNED for it.<

Okay, so you know your mother messed you up. But why for the love of Mike do you think every single woman is like your mom? Why would men like you think that every woman out there--no matter her personality, lifestyle, or character differences--just lives to cut off your balls? And why, knowing what you know, would you consistently date/want women who would treat you like your mom? This is something I've never been able to get. If you know your problems are because of your mother, why extend your beef to every other woman out here? We didn't raise you; most of us don't even know you--and we aren't out to get you. Hell, most of us are just trying to make it through life as best we can,_just_ like you.

...and they've been doing so every since he announced his candidacy. Any search of any winger pundit's archives (or those of the Frei Republik crew) will prove that, so why aren't you chiding them for bringing this mess up in the first place?