Confession 9.0

I have gone temporarily mental.

Me. Internet shopping. Bleary eyed. Bizrate. Amazon. Ebay. Which is the better price? AHHHHHHH!!!!!

I took a moritorium from internet shopping last year. I did the whole Black Friday thing for the first time, did all my shopping in person.... While that is fun, I have to admit I like finding the deals on the net. Free shipping, not having to worry about having the kids with me. Take last night for example. John and I were at Target, and I happened to see that the toy that Emma wants the most, the Barbie "Jam with Me" guitar (which Justin is going to despise, since, as a "real rocker", he thinks all other guitar things and people are mostly "posers" - LOL ) was the cheapest I have seen it yet. I snagged one, tried to hide it under the cart, but no - little Miss Eagle Eyes saw it. LOL Had to lie to my daughter that it was actually a piece of paper with the picture on it, and pawn it off to my husband to go ahead and buy it and put it in the car.

Now, I do have to be careful with Ebay. The boys like to get on Ebay and check out stuff. I've gotten Brandon a couple of things on Ebay already. I get rid of them as soon as I have left feedback. And I am sending almost all of the stuff I order to work instead of home. I wonder how tired the receptionist is going to be of getting my packages? LOL

Speaking of Ebay, I've already had a mishap. I ordered one of those dual cereal dispensers for a sister in law, and I didn't pay close enough attention to the little words "LIKE NEW". I can't give her something used! So I had to go ahead and keep that one for myself (the kids think it's cool, but I'm like "meh") and buy her a new one. I just went ahead and got it from Penneys, who had free shipping if you buy over $25. A good deal, since most other places, it's $75 or $100 for the free shipping.

Amazon has always been my friend. Always. But that is the one I go most nuts on. This year I have decided to give my mother in laws (divorced parents, not two husbands) a little smorgesborg of fancy soaps. I spend two hours, maybe more, trying to find perfect soaps that ALSO add up to the requisite amount for free shipping. I was swaying in my seat from exhaustion, but didn't give up until I had it perfect. LOL

I did Overstock for the first time this year. Overstock has a lot of great clothes, but I just can't make myself pay $60 for a Versace t-shirt, even if it is 85% off. LOL But they did have the very best price on Justin's most wanted gift, the Nirvana box set. And only $1 shipping. Natch.

So if you are going to do internet shopping, look for the free shipping, look for clearance, make it worth it. But it is a lot of work. Probably easier to just go to the store. But with four kids, and one hellion especially, it is damn near impossible for me. My idea of heaven is an hour and a half in Kohl's all by myself so that I can dig through clearance at my hearts' content. LOL

So until Christmas is done and the gifts have all been bought, I am going to be the relentless huntress, out for the best deal, looking for the site that is willing to do the most for me. As long as it isn't owned by a Walton. LOL

Confession 8.0

I am a Democrat and I believe in the death penalty.

I just had to put in the "Democrat" part, because a lot of people think that all Democrats are against the death penalty, but if they had a lick of sense in their brain, they would know how wrong they are.

I was reading an article in the Statesman today about the latest execution here in Texas. People like to make fun of Texas because of the amount of people executed, but seriously - look at California. Their death row inmates sit there waiting to die for decades. Most of them will probably die of natural causes before being given their punishment. Even that freak who kidnapped his neighbor's little girl, raped and killed her - that piece of shit will die in prison before being put to death for what he did.

I understand on some levels the people who believe that the death punishment is wrong. I understand that they believe that it is only God's place to decide a person's fate. I can see how someone would think that. I don't agree, but I can understand how one would think that. What I don't understand is the people who think that the death penalty is cruel and inhumane, that it shows a lack of civility. Excuse me? These people are on death row because they themselves are cruel and inhumane and lack civility. Why should we show them more mercy than they would show us? These people are killers. And not just your run of the mill killers - it takes a special person to get themselves sent to death row. They deserve not one ounce of my pity.

I believe that there should be only three appeals given to death row inmates, max. I also believe that all death row inmates that were convicted before the use of DNA should have their cases checked against the crime (if evidence still exists) so that we don't wrongly put someone to death. I hear people who say that the death penalty should be abolished because even one person wrongly accused is to much, and to that I say bullshit. Nothing is perfect. Believe me, the justice system is far from perfect, and will be forever, as long a human beings run the show. We should not throw out the system because it's not perfect, because nearly every person who has broken the law tries to get out of it, tries to say they are innocent. Even the stumbling drunks pulled over for DWI try to say they weren't drunk. I don't think most people will lay down and say, "Yeah, I murdered them. Put me to death."

One state (Utah?) gives the condemned their choice of method of death. Bullet, hanging, lethal injection. I think that's a good idea in theory, but it would take a special person to be the executioner. I wonder if they do it like in the old days - give a row of executioners rifles at random, with only one of them loaded with an actual bullet. They all fire, but no one knows who actually fired the shot that killed.

For anyone interested in getting info on Texas' Death Row, TDCJ has an excellent website with the condemned info, including their last statements:

http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/executedoffenders.htm

There is also a website that I found one night whilst googling that kept a list of different states' death row inmates' last meals. I thought it was interesting, but then I am into all that kind of morbid stuff.

That was the same night I was looking at crime scene photos, and was finding all kinds of gnarly stuff, like that Chris Farley's body.

Eww.

Confession 7.0

I am a cold hearted bitch.

Not in everything, of course, but when it comes to battered women and being sympathetic to the reasons they stay, yeah - I'm a capital B.

Every now and then at work I help out our victim coordinator, who is wonderful when it comes to these women. She gives them the sympathy they need. When I did it as a job many years ago, I asked to be moved, because I just didn't have the stomach for it. I can only fake feeling sorry for them for so long.

It's probably because I am a former battered woman myself. God knows it took me long enough to get out (nine years) but I DID get out. The one time I called the police on him, they didn't even offer to press charges (thanks a LOT North Carolina!), but I probably would have ended up doing just like these women do, going and crying and saying that I needed him home, the kids need him home, can't we just get on with our lives? *whine* It was Christmas Eve, too. Joy. Marie, you didn't even know, but I had a broken rib when you came to visit us for the holidays. My second son was still breastfeeding. But that shouldn't have been surprising, because the first time he slapped me, I only stayed (yeah, right), because I found out I was pregnant with said child.

See? See what a horrid bitch I am? I've been through it, lived it, but I don't have the patience to drum up sympathy for these women. Don't want to hear their stories. I mean, yeah - I do it. I pretend. I talk to them nicely and try to let them know gently that this will more than likely happen again. I wonder why I am like that?

What brought this on was the article I was reading about mail order brides from Russia wanting to have protection rights from their abusive husbands. Granted, it's a generality, and I normally hate endulging in those, but HELLO!!!!! You married a man who had to come to another country to find a woman. A woman who can't speak the language, who won't have a support system, who won't have many legal rights. What the fuck did you expect? We American woman obviously didn't want a damn thing to do with him, or he couldn't handle us, the pussy. So he goes in search of a woman who will be willing to marry him after knowing him a week or two. MARRY someone after knowing them for days. Jeez. I wonder why it didn't work out? LOL

Please don't take my lack of sympathy as a blase attitude towards abusers. Absolutely not. I despise these types of men completely. I think they should receive the full extent of punishment available, especially the little freaks that have to go find a woman from a different country. I have to read about abusers every day at work. Well, I don't HAVE to read them so intently, I guess, but somehow I am driven to read about other people's anguish. It's just one of the ways I like to torture myself. LOL

So - I'm a heartless bitch because I want to tell these women to stop their f'ing whining about not having a job and needing their husband out of jail so that he can pay the bills. GET A JOB! Whining about how the kids need him... NEED A MAN WHO HITS MOMMY? Riiiiight. Whining about how they just want to get on with their lives. AND HOW EXACTLY IS HIS CRIMINAL CASE STOPPING HIM FROM GOING ABOUT HIS BUSINESS? All it is is just excuses about why THEY aren't strong enough to leave their spouses. And they certainly aren't ready to talk about that or face that, now are they?

sigh

My heart isn't black, I swear. I just wish that these women would wake up. If it's just you and him and there are no kids to witness all this, fine. Have fun getting beat up all you want. But when you involve your kids and make them suffer by seeing you get treated like an animal, then be prepared to have people get pissed at you for putting up with that crap. Hell, I know people were pissed at me!

Confession 6.0

I HATE Wal-Mart.

Yeah, yeah - join the bandwagon, I know. But I have hated them for years. Not because they take away the small business owner. But because how they purposely keep their employees so poor that the majority don't get enough hours to have insurance for their families, and they qualify for food stamps. They say they are concerned about the poor in America, and want to continue to keep their prices low so that they can afford to buy things in their store, but I guess they want to do it off the backs of their own employees and the backs of the American taxpayer.

It's not like they can't afford it! Individually, the owners of Wal-Mart are all considered top 10 of America's richest people. Not as a group, mind you - as invidiuals. So while they are all billionares many times over, they want us to believe that their company would suffer if they paid their employees a living wage. That they would have to raise the prices of their goods if they gave all their employees enough hours to qualify for health insurance, to pay them enough to keep them off the food stamp roll.... Sickening.

I don't even go to Sam's anymore.

If you're interested in learning the real truth about Wal-Mart, and not the spin they want to put on everything, check out this: www.walmartmovie.com

No, I'm not coming down on "The Man", I'm not hating on them just because they're successful - I'm coming down on them for being hypocritcal, money hungry a-holes who claim to be the provider for the underclass, yet make damn sure that they people who run their stores are kept in the underclass, all while sitting in their mansions counting their billions of dollars.

I was very happy to see Wal-Mart donate millions to the Hurricane Katrina survivors. But it just isn't enough to change my perception. Start giving your employees health insurance, give them a wage to live on, and then we'll see.

Confession 5.0

I believe that certain amounts of marijuana possession should be legal.

The city of Denver passed a law stating that a certain amount of marijuana is not punishable (I can't remember the amount, and I am too lazy to go look). I think that's an excellent idea and one that the entire country should use.

Why do we have rules on how much alcohol a person can drink and not be illegal (provided they do not drive), but we can't on marijuana? Are they really that much different? Having tried marijuana for the first time at the tender age of 32 (yeah - that's a whole 'nother Oprah show) I can say that it really isn't that much different than being pretty darn drunk. I would never recommend driving while high, but I think that a person who is pulled over for speeding or something and is arrested for having a tiny blunt in their car that isn't even smoked is past it's time.

We complain about having to pay more taxes to build more jails - I think changes in our possession of marijuana laws would help out a bit. Typical POM cases don't spend too much time in jail, but it's a start. It might free a few beds for the really bad criminals out there. Also, why not make less than 2 ounces a Class C misd., like a speeding ticket. Make them pay a fine instead of sending them to jail. Make them pay the county, instead of the county paying for them. Get me?

It just seems pretty hypocritical that alcohol is legal to a certain level but marijuana isn't. Walking home shit faced drunk will get you a class C ticket. But walking home with a joint in your pocket will get you time in jail. Even if you haven't smoked it.

Now, I'm no pot head. I've smoked it exactly twice in my entire life, and I don't have any plans to do it again. But I hope that one day, perhaps our generation will see that legalizing certain amounts of marijuana is a smart way to go to free up the criminal justice system and to create money for local government instead of continually costing everyone.