Alex, I'm with you in this.

I would like the drug wars to end. Legalize everything. You want to use something, fine, as long as you're not putting other people's lives at risk when you do.

However, every time the medical marijuana issue arises, there are a bunch of people making wild claims for what pot has done for their chronic illnesses. I have chronic pain, and have had for decades. It sucks beyond belief, and I have had to fight to get the meds I need to get me through the day. I have absolute sympathy for others who suffer. I'm sure that pot has worked very well for certain types of pain.

But, please, have a little respect. I had a marijuana dispensary just a few blocks from my home. I can tell you that, no matter what time of day I passed by, not one of the people entering the building looked ill in any way. Most looked extremely healthy. I rode the bus occasionally, and the people who took the bus to the dispensary were all in party moods; most of them were young and seemed to move prettily easily in and out of the bus.

The place was finally busted after about a year and a half. They had set up with some doctors for referrals and kickbacks.

It's common knowledge that getting a medical marijuana certificate costs $295 for the exam, and the exam lasts about 15 minutes. It's an absolute joke. And it belittles the suffering of people who have found help using marijuana.

A friend purchased a puppy from what was supposed to be a reputable dealer. The problems began a few months later when she started giving the puppy adult dog food. The puppy developed terrible stomach problems and diarrhea. It went on for months, with numerous trips to the vet and thousands and thousands of dollars. Finally, a specialist recognized the problem: the dog cannot digest animal protein. I know, it sounds insane, but the inbreeding and overbreeding of yellow labs has resulted in labs that can't digest animal products.

Her dog has to be fed special vegan dog food for the rest of her life, and they have to check all the labels on chew toys and treats to see if they contain any animal-sourced protein.

Since the problem didn't arise right away, they decided it would be too difficult to sue the breeder, who lives several hundred miles away.

"What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?" ~Lin Yutang

I didn't grow up in the Ozarks, but we visited there many times when I was a child. There was a small local company that made hard cinnamon stick candies with chewy cinnamon jelly on the outside, which was rolled in sugar. If the company still existed, I'd order those candies. They're inextricably linked with the Ozarks for me.

I thought Quimby was based on Ted Kennedy.

Having worked in a school, I can at least partially agree with kikicrazed.

Now CPS needs to be called in, because a child of that age that is behaving like that has almost certainly got some major problems going on at home.

Women are banned from the front lines, but they're there.

I rode a commuter bus for several years, so the riff raff was pretty minimal. We had free wifi, hibacked padded seats, heating and air conditioning, and drivers who would kick the jerkwads off. So I'd have to rate that bus way above the schoolbus.

It's hard enough saddling a horse, I can't imagine getting one into a suit.

The trillions of dollars of debt have very little to do with entitlement programs and almost everything to do with wars/police actions in the Middle East.

The other problem is that the government keeps raiding those funds, especially the Social Security fund, to pay for other government expenses, not Social Security. If they kept their mitts off of those funds, there would be no issues.

And if they actually knew history, they would know that a war in the Middle East is not winnable. They are military black holes.

I read an article a few years ago about a woman in Oakland (right across the Bay from SF) who was planting fruit trees on empty lots. The trees flourished. Locals made sure they were watered in exchange for free, healthy fruit.

I hope she's been able to continue her guerilla gardening.

Several years ago, Thomas Siebel of Siebel Systems sold the company and moved to Montana. The growing meth problem shocked him, and he started the Montana Meth Project. It's the original of this. I remember watching the ads online and was shocked, but I also thought that they might shock someone enough to make them think twice. The one I remember was a girl in the shower clawing at her skin until she bled.

Jim Bob actually home churches, based on Quiverfull and Gothard teachings. In these belief systems, women do not have a real say in anything. They are to offer complete submission to the husband, who has all the say in decisions.

Also, they support the Pearls, the ones who publish the books about beating your children into submission. Part of this is training your children to always be happy, to always be smiling, to be anything else is to be disobediant. Those smiles are hiding a lot of brainwashing.

There's a documentary called "Sun Come Up" about the efforts of the Carteret Islanders to obtain new homes on larger islands in Papua New Guinea. It's an excellent movie, but very sad.

Many years ago, I read an article where it was noted that nearly all those people who are found dead out in the middle of nowhere didn't go to those locations by choice. In other words, "Never, ever get into a car - even if someone is pointing a gun at you - because once you give up control you are at their mercy. And you will NOT get any mercy." And they added that if you get shot on a street, you still have a chance to get help; you won't get anything in the woods except an unmarked grave.

Colt, this family wouldn't be able to support themselves without the television show. They make almost $200,000 an episode. I watched the show a few years ago, when it first started, and they were stuck in a tiny tract home, driving beat up vehicles, and asking for help from his parents.

Since the children are home-schooled, and the girls, especially, have had serious limitations put on what they can do, many of them probably will end up on some kind of public assistance.