Our troops are burnt out, the Iraqi people hate us, and there doesn't seem to be much we can do to establish a real democracy in Iraq. But we're responsible for the day to day instability in Iraq. Whatever one can say about Saddam Hussein, and one can say a lot of truly awful things, he did maintain Iraq in a state of relative calm, when he wasn't starting wars or gassing people. I want us to leave, but I don't want us to leave behind a nation in civil war. Ultimately, though, I'm not sure we have any choice. The only way we can stabilize the country would be to put in way more troops than we have available and establish a military state controlled by the U.S.. And the terrorists would still keep slaughtering innocent Iraqis in order to embarass and weaken us. In a sad way, I wish the right were right on this one. I wish that the horrors of Iraq were being overstated by the media, and that democracy was around the corner. Unfortuneatly, I don't see how this could be possible. I hate that my nation did this.

... but PLEASE wait until you are 25 to have kids. You are going to change so much over the next 10 years. You'll look back at your 21 year old self and wonder how you could have thought you were so mature and experienced, when you really were just relatively mature and experienced for a 21 year old. Your fiance is NOT going to change as much in the next 10 years. Maybe you will grow in a direction that enhances your relationship. Maybe not. But you really aren't as grown up as you think you are. It's nothing personal, and I don't expect you to believe me, because I still remember being 21 and thinking that I was all grown up. But I wasn't, and I've known a lot of people under 25 who weren't grown up, and every single one of them (including me) thought they knew more than the old farts who told them they had a lot of growing to do. I'm speaking from experience here. I fell in love when I was 20. He was 10 years older than me. During the next 10 years, I changed a LOT. He ... changed a little. People don't change as much between 30 and 40 as they do between 20 and 30. Now, I'm married to a man 10 years older than me, who is everything I could want. I met him when I was 35. I know you have no intention of listening to anybody who tells you to give it a few years, and that's okay. But at least don't succumb to the pressure to have kids until you are really ready, until YOU want the kids as much as your in-laws and partner do. You have so much time. He's going to be in more of a hurry. You don't have to rush. Don't do things on his schedule, do them on yours.

I'm in my 40's, and I NEVER recall the republicans being a "Docile Minority". They screamed and yelled and whined and complained every day of their minority status. They were never docile. And the democrats treated them with a heck of a lot more respect than the current crowd of republicans treat the democrats. I don't recall them being cut out of compromise meetings, or sworn at on the floor of Congress. The Dems didn't repeatedly hold voting sessions open for 45 minutes to try to sway votes. In fact, when the Dems held a vote open for just a few minutes, the "docile" republicans acted as if it was the end of the free world. Please don't pretend that DeLay has any credibility. He is a liar and a cheat who doesn't give a damn about the welfare of this nation, but only for the health and prosperity of his campaign donors.

Okay, it's a marketing thing, but bra's are highly underrated. I'm a former no-bra wearer who has recently converted (at least when it comes to work). I also discovered fairly recently that I was wearing the wrong size bra, which is why I found them so uncomfortable and wouldn't wear one. But when I wear a correctly fitting bra, everything looks better and I look more attractive and more professional. I'm a "big girl" like the Queen, although not nearly as well put together. But I think that if women want to be taken seriously, we need to pay attention to these things. It's not the 70's anymore. We don't need to burn our bras to be independent. Although few people will ever say anything about it, wearing the wrong bra or going braless can seriously effect our appearance and how the world perceives us, which will effect our careers.

Everybody gets punished except the person who initiates the "crime" of abortion. I think this annoys me more than any other single aspect of the abortion debate. The bleeping right wingers act as if women are just helpless victims of abortion who are not grown up enough to be held responsible for their actions. I can almost understand them having a religious belief in life beginning at conception. I can respect that people who believe that life begins at conception might fight to ban abortion. At least that is an honest debating point. What I cannot understand is how in the 21st century they can write legislation that treats women as the equivalents of helpless crime victims if they think we are committing a crime. If abortion is murder, then a person seeking an abortion is no better than someone who tries to hire a thug to kill their child. This issue highlight the inherent flaws in the anti-choice arguments, and the sincere belief of the right that women are fools.