http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/ Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:49:22 -0700 MyBB http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2718 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:37:38 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2718
I find myself watching 4 right now. The Little Couple (TLC), The Real Housewives of NY. (Bravo) Shear Genius (Bravo) and ..... Food Tech (History Channel).

If I find myself yelling at the show, then I stop watching it. With the exception of NY one. That Kelly on there is banana's and I can't stop myself from yelling "What were you thinking?" at the screen.]]>
I find myself watching 4 right now. The Little Couple (TLC), The Real Housewives of NY. (Bravo) Shear Genius (Bravo) and ..... Food Tech (History Channel).

If I find myself yelling at the show, then I stop watching it. With the exception of NY one. That Kelly on there is banana's and I can't stop myself from yelling "What were you thinking?" at the screen.]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2717 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:26:31 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2717
Under Health Reform, Medicaid Would Cover Many Childless Adults

by Rick Schmitt

KHN Staff Writer

Mar 08, 2010

This story was produced in collaboration with

Marilyn Matthews, unemployed and uninsured, would benefit from the proposed Medicaid expansion to childless adults. The 51 year-old widow has been without insurance since 2002. (Michael Bryant/Philadelphia Inquirer)

Marilyn Matthews has no job, no health insurance, and until now, no chance of qualifying for Medicaid.

She’s unquestionably poor — her last regular paycheck was more than three years ago — and would meet the income criteria for Medicaid. The rub is that Matthews, 51, is a healthy adult with no children.

While Medicaid is the main government health insurance plan for the poor, the joint state-federal program has excluded Matthews and millions of other adults with no dependent children since the 1960s. Medicaid has been limited mainly to children in poor families, the elderly, pregnant women and the disabled. Some states have tried to fill the gap, but childless adults now comprise a majority of uninsured Americans.

The lowest-income members of the group would be among the big beneficiaries of the Democratic health insurance overhaul plans in Washington.

Senate legislation and President Obama’s new health proposal would expand eligibility to all with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or $14,404 for a single person. The House bill would set the mark at 150 percent or $16,245 for single people.

Over 10 years, Medicaid enrollment would grow by 15 million, including not only childless adults but others whose incomes don't qualify now for the program.

Whether the Democrats can push an ambitious plan through Congress is uncertain. If one doesn’t pass, the states are in no position to expand Medicaid coverage without federal help: the states face huge shortfalls from the recession.

Covering childless adults would mark a radical shift in thinking about who deserves a helping hand, not to mention a departure from what Congress intended when it created Medicaid 45 years ago.

The exclusion is rooted in the welfare system of 17th Century England, and an attitude that able-bodied men should not be on the public dole. Imported to America, the distinction was reflected in cash assistance laws enacted during the New Deal, which served as a blueprint for Medicaid years later.

Pros And Cons

Supporters of a Democratic overhaul say excluding childless adults is an anachronism at a time when they are just as apt to become ill or face crushing medical expenses as anyone else. Even for many working adults, they note, health insurance has become unaffordable in recent years.

Critics say expanding Medicaid twists the program’s original intent, which was to aid the most vulnerable citizens. They also cite the budget-busting potential of expanded public health care.

But there is ambivalence on both sides. Conservative critics have backed off some of the strident anti-welfare rhetoric that has colored such debates in the past. And some supporters of expanded public coverage for the poor question whether Medicaid is the right vehicle, because care can be uneven, and the program carries the moral stigma of welfare.

“It is great that all these people will be able to get care. I don’t want to denigrate that. But it is perpetuating this two-track health care delivery system,” says Penn professor Michael Katz, author of "The Undeserving Poor: From the War on Poverty to the War on Welfare."

Many doctors already refuse to accept Medicaid patients because the government payments are so low. In a survey of major cities last year by health consultants Merritt Hawkins & Associates, Philadelphia ranked near the bottom in the percentage of cardiologists and OB/GYNs who accepted Medicaid.

Administrative hassles may also limit care. A 2008 study in the journal Health Affairs found that Pennsylvania took the longest to pay doctors for Medicaid services – almost four months, on average, further discouraging participation.

Supporters say just a fraction of the uninsured would have trouble getting adequate care while millions would benefit from the expansion. Moreover, they say, at a time when many uninsured visit expensive hospital emergency rooms as their primary source of care, expanding a program like Medicaid, with its emphasis on preventive care, is more efficient.

Many Need Care

What is clear is that an expanded Medicaid would cover a wide range of people, from uninsured young adults to empty nesters to divorced spouses and widows left without insurance.

Many of these folks have un-met health needs. The number of people on Medicaid who have severe mental illness and substance abuse addictions is expected to more than double if the overhaul passes.

The legislation would also bridge a gap for unemployed and uninsured Americans who are not old enough to qualify for Medicare, federal health insurance for the elderly.

Montez Tucker, 50, wrestled with alcohol and drug problems. Now clean, his income qualifies him for Medicaid but he has no health insurance. The overhaul would reverse a practice that currently makes it more difficult for people with drug or alcohol addictions to get Medicaid coverage. (Michael Bryant/Philadelphia Inquirer)

Matthews fits that profile. Growing up, she had insurance through her parents, and later through her husband, who worked in a family steel business. “I always had health insurance,” she says.

After her husband died from leukemia in 1995, she worked as a marketing consultant, receptionist and administrative assistant. She last worked in 2006 as a front desk agent at a corporate conference center in Bryn Mawr. But she hasn’t had health insurance since 2002. Without an employer to help with the premiums, she says coverage is beyond her reach.

She went back to school in 2007 to become a certified legal assistant, just in time for the recession to hit. Today, she trolls for jobs on her laptop, and tries to stay as healthy as possible, although she has not seen a doctor in years. There’s a bowl of apples on her dining room table, and a treadmill in the living room of the brick Colonial she bought with her husband in the 1980s.

Matthews says she was surprised to learn that being unemployed with “no money in your checking account” counts for little in getting public health care. “It is pretty crazy,” she says of the current system.

Young Also Struggle

About half of uninsured childless adults are between the ages of 19 and 34, and would be discouraged from working if they got free health care, critics say. “Medicaid should be focusing on people that Medicaid is uniquely qualified to serve, which are people with complex medical needs, people with disabilities,” says Dennis Smith, head of Medicaid under President George W. Bush.

But Heather Jenkins, 29, a personal trainer living near Baltimore, says she can’t get private insurance because of injuries she suffered in an auto accident a few years ago, leaving her with chronic jaw pain and hip problems. At the same time, her injuries are not considered extensive enough to get her free health care under federal disability laws.

The Medicaid expansion could help her: she now earns less than $15,000, and might meet the income criteria in an overhaul bill.

“I am hoping to still work and pay taxes. I cannot get Social Security (disability insurance) because I am not that disabled. But I am too disabled to get health insurance,” she says.

Some candidates for the new Medicaid might not be considered so sympathetic. The overhaul would reverse a practice adopted as part of welfare reform in 1996 that made it more difficult for people with drug or alcohol addictions to get Medicaid coverage.

For years, Montez Tucker, 50, wrestled with alcohol and drug problems. The Philadelphia resident says he got clean three years ago after checking into a Christian mission treatment center. But he has no health insurance.

Today, he works about 20 hours a week, earning $10 an hour, as a package handler for an express mail company, low enough to qualify him for Medicaid under the proposed new rules.

“I really want to make more than $15,000 a year,” says Tucker, a former National Guard paramedic, who is returning to school to become a certified nursing aide. “But (Medicaid) helps if you can’t” make more.

He thinks expanding coverage for substance abusers would be money well spent.

“People want help and have no way to get it,” he says.]]>
Under Health Reform, Medicaid Would Cover Many Childless Adults

by Rick Schmitt

KHN Staff Writer

Mar 08, 2010

This story was produced in collaboration with

Marilyn Matthews, unemployed and uninsured, would benefit from the proposed Medicaid expansion to childless adults. The 51 year-old widow has been without insurance since 2002. (Michael Bryant/Philadelphia Inquirer)

Marilyn Matthews has no job, no health insurance, and until now, no chance of qualifying for Medicaid.

She’s unquestionably poor — her last regular paycheck was more than three years ago — and would meet the income criteria for Medicaid. The rub is that Matthews, 51, is a healthy adult with no children.

While Medicaid is the main government health insurance plan for the poor, the joint state-federal program has excluded Matthews and millions of other adults with no dependent children since the 1960s. Medicaid has been limited mainly to children in poor families, the elderly, pregnant women and the disabled. Some states have tried to fill the gap, but childless adults now comprise a majority of uninsured Americans.

The lowest-income members of the group would be among the big beneficiaries of the Democratic health insurance overhaul plans in Washington.

Senate legislation and President Obama’s new health proposal would expand eligibility to all with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or $14,404 for a single person. The House bill would set the mark at 150 percent or $16,245 for single people.

Over 10 years, Medicaid enrollment would grow by 15 million, including not only childless adults but others whose incomes don't qualify now for the program.

Whether the Democrats can push an ambitious plan through Congress is uncertain. If one doesn’t pass, the states are in no position to expand Medicaid coverage without federal help: the states face huge shortfalls from the recession.

Covering childless adults would mark a radical shift in thinking about who deserves a helping hand, not to mention a departure from what Congress intended when it created Medicaid 45 years ago.

The exclusion is rooted in the welfare system of 17th Century England, and an attitude that able-bodied men should not be on the public dole. Imported to America, the distinction was reflected in cash assistance laws enacted during the New Deal, which served as a blueprint for Medicaid years later.

Pros And Cons

Supporters of a Democratic overhaul say excluding childless adults is an anachronism at a time when they are just as apt to become ill or face crushing medical expenses as anyone else. Even for many working adults, they note, health insurance has become unaffordable in recent years.

Critics say expanding Medicaid twists the program’s original intent, which was to aid the most vulnerable citizens. They also cite the budget-busting potential of expanded public health care.

But there is ambivalence on both sides. Conservative critics have backed off some of the strident anti-welfare rhetoric that has colored such debates in the past. And some supporters of expanded public coverage for the poor question whether Medicaid is the right vehicle, because care can be uneven, and the program carries the moral stigma of welfare.

“It is great that all these people will be able to get care. I don’t want to denigrate that. But it is perpetuating this two-track health care delivery system,” says Penn professor Michael Katz, author of "The Undeserving Poor: From the War on Poverty to the War on Welfare."

Many doctors already refuse to accept Medicaid patients because the government payments are so low. In a survey of major cities last year by health consultants Merritt Hawkins & Associates, Philadelphia ranked near the bottom in the percentage of cardiologists and OB/GYNs who accepted Medicaid.

Administrative hassles may also limit care. A 2008 study in the journal Health Affairs found that Pennsylvania took the longest to pay doctors for Medicaid services – almost four months, on average, further discouraging participation.

Supporters say just a fraction of the uninsured would have trouble getting adequate care while millions would benefit from the expansion. Moreover, they say, at a time when many uninsured visit expensive hospital emergency rooms as their primary source of care, expanding a program like Medicaid, with its emphasis on preventive care, is more efficient.

Many Need Care

What is clear is that an expanded Medicaid would cover a wide range of people, from uninsured young adults to empty nesters to divorced spouses and widows left without insurance.

Many of these folks have un-met health needs. The number of people on Medicaid who have severe mental illness and substance abuse addictions is expected to more than double if the overhaul passes.

The legislation would also bridge a gap for unemployed and uninsured Americans who are not old enough to qualify for Medicare, federal health insurance for the elderly.

Montez Tucker, 50, wrestled with alcohol and drug problems. Now clean, his income qualifies him for Medicaid but he has no health insurance. The overhaul would reverse a practice that currently makes it more difficult for people with drug or alcohol addictions to get Medicaid coverage. (Michael Bryant/Philadelphia Inquirer)

Matthews fits that profile. Growing up, she had insurance through her parents, and later through her husband, who worked in a family steel business. “I always had health insurance,” she says.

After her husband died from leukemia in 1995, she worked as a marketing consultant, receptionist and administrative assistant. She last worked in 2006 as a front desk agent at a corporate conference center in Bryn Mawr. But she hasn’t had health insurance since 2002. Without an employer to help with the premiums, she says coverage is beyond her reach.

She went back to school in 2007 to become a certified legal assistant, just in time for the recession to hit. Today, she trolls for jobs on her laptop, and tries to stay as healthy as possible, although she has not seen a doctor in years. There’s a bowl of apples on her dining room table, and a treadmill in the living room of the brick Colonial she bought with her husband in the 1980s.

Matthews says she was surprised to learn that being unemployed with “no money in your checking account” counts for little in getting public health care. “It is pretty crazy,” she says of the current system.

Young Also Struggle

About half of uninsured childless adults are between the ages of 19 and 34, and would be discouraged from working if they got free health care, critics say. “Medicaid should be focusing on people that Medicaid is uniquely qualified to serve, which are people with complex medical needs, people with disabilities,” says Dennis Smith, head of Medicaid under President George W. Bush.

But Heather Jenkins, 29, a personal trainer living near Baltimore, says she can’t get private insurance because of injuries she suffered in an auto accident a few years ago, leaving her with chronic jaw pain and hip problems. At the same time, her injuries are not considered extensive enough to get her free health care under federal disability laws.

The Medicaid expansion could help her: she now earns less than $15,000, and might meet the income criteria in an overhaul bill.

“I am hoping to still work and pay taxes. I cannot get Social Security (disability insurance) because I am not that disabled. But I am too disabled to get health insurance,” she says.

Some candidates for the new Medicaid might not be considered so sympathetic. The overhaul would reverse a practice adopted as part of welfare reform in 1996 that made it more difficult for people with drug or alcohol addictions to get Medicaid coverage.

For years, Montez Tucker, 50, wrestled with alcohol and drug problems. The Philadelphia resident says he got clean three years ago after checking into a Christian mission treatment center. But he has no health insurance.

Today, he works about 20 hours a week, earning $10 an hour, as a package handler for an express mail company, low enough to qualify him for Medicaid under the proposed new rules.

“I really want to make more than $15,000 a year,” says Tucker, a former National Guard paramedic, who is returning to school to become a certified nursing aide. “But (Medicaid) helps if you can’t” make more.

He thinks expanding coverage for substance abusers would be money well spent.

“People want help and have no way to get it,” he says.]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2716 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:21:29 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2716
Before she was pregnant she had "baby rabies". For those of you who don't know, that's when someone wants a baby so bad it's like a sickness that overwhelms them and everyone in their life...The problem is she is married to a veritable 3 year old whose obsession is playing World of Warcraft at all hours and still acting single. Their marriage BEFORE she was pregnant was rocky, at best. She complained non-stop about how bad it was with him, they fought all the time, and several times even discussed divorce. I witnessed the emotional and verbal abuse they both inflicted on each other, although he was more guilty most times, telling her how she was stupid, correcting her when she spoke, telling her to stop doing something like she was a child (she's 23 by the way). I had a talk with my friend about how she should put having a kid on the back-burner...but the "baby rabies" had already eaten her brain. She was still dead set on trying to get pregnant, despite trying for a whole year and failing (probably due to the stress of a very bad marriage).

Well she finally got pregnant...and needless to say I wasn't happy...I feigned happiness for her sake, but didn't do a good job. Why bring a poor child into such a horrible situation? I've seen kids stuck in the middle of bad marriages...and I feel sorry for them. Now of course the husband is up to the same old stuff, doesn't want to be involved in anything having to do with this baby crap (probably because he doesn't want one) and is completely ignoring my "friend". Meanwhile I have to hear 24/7 about how horrible the husband is. It's gotten to the point that I just tell her to get a divorce...but she snaps back with "he's a dick, but I still love him." Well you know what?! I'm sick of freaking hearing it!

I've been divorced before...I put myself through 5 years of hell with an abusive ass, but when I had had enough and realized what I was putting up with, I got out and got out QUICK. I also wasn't stupid enough to bring a child into the equation! I don't have time to sit here and listen to some sad sob story over and over just so you can feel sorry for yourself! Grow some and get a divorce. It's not like she doesn't have support outside the marriage (believe me!)...she is already living with her sister while her husband is in Iraq. I'm sick of it. Now she's posting all these disgusting messages on her facebook about "I love my hubby I miss yooouuuu!" while he's deployed. *sigh*

Seriously, on my last nerve. I'm a patient person but really, I will tell you like it is. If you want pity don't come to me.

Sorry for the novel...just had to get all that out!]]>
Before she was pregnant she had "baby rabies". For those of you who don't know, that's when someone wants a baby so bad it's like a sickness that overwhelms them and everyone in their life...The problem is she is married to a veritable 3 year old whose obsession is playing World of Warcraft at all hours and still acting single. Their marriage BEFORE she was pregnant was rocky, at best. She complained non-stop about how bad it was with him, they fought all the time, and several times even discussed divorce. I witnessed the emotional and verbal abuse they both inflicted on each other, although he was more guilty most times, telling her how she was stupid, correcting her when she spoke, telling her to stop doing something like she was a child (she's 23 by the way). I had a talk with my friend about how she should put having a kid on the back-burner...but the "baby rabies" had already eaten her brain. She was still dead set on trying to get pregnant, despite trying for a whole year and failing (probably due to the stress of a very bad marriage).

Well she finally got pregnant...and needless to say I wasn't happy...I feigned happiness for her sake, but didn't do a good job. Why bring a poor child into such a horrible situation? I've seen kids stuck in the middle of bad marriages...and I feel sorry for them. Now of course the husband is up to the same old stuff, doesn't want to be involved in anything having to do with this baby crap (probably because he doesn't want one) and is completely ignoring my "friend". Meanwhile I have to hear 24/7 about how horrible the husband is. It's gotten to the point that I just tell her to get a divorce...but she snaps back with "he's a dick, but I still love him." Well you know what?! I'm sick of freaking hearing it!

I've been divorced before...I put myself through 5 years of hell with an abusive ass, but when I had had enough and realized what I was putting up with, I got out and got out QUICK. I also wasn't stupid enough to bring a child into the equation! I don't have time to sit here and listen to some sad sob story over and over just so you can feel sorry for yourself! Grow some and get a divorce. It's not like she doesn't have support outside the marriage (believe me!)...she is already living with her sister while her husband is in Iraq. I'm sick of it. Now she's posting all these disgusting messages on her facebook about "I love my hubby I miss yooouuuu!" while he's deployed. *sigh*

Seriously, on my last nerve. I'm a patient person but really, I will tell you like it is. If you want pity don't come to me.

Sorry for the novel...just had to get all that out!]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2715 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:23:37 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2715 Corey Haim Dies at 38

We hope Corey Haim is dreaming more than just a little dream.

The 1980s teen heartthrob died early Wednesday morning, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He was 38.

The Lost Boys star is believed to have died of an accidental drug overdose, police told the network. He was unresponsive when discovered in his apartment in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. He was taken to Providence St. Joseph's Medical Center in nearby Burbank, where he was pronounced dead around 3 a.m.

The actor, one-half of "The Coreys" along with Corey Feldman, had a history of battling drug addiction throughout his career.





So sad...So many of the stars that I adored in my youth have passed away much too young.

Vanessa]]> Corey Haim Dies at 38

We hope Corey Haim is dreaming more than just a little dream.

The 1980s teen heartthrob died early Wednesday morning, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He was 38.

The Lost Boys star is believed to have died of an accidental drug overdose, police told the network. He was unresponsive when discovered in his apartment in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. He was taken to Providence St. Joseph's Medical Center in nearby Burbank, where he was pronounced dead around 3 a.m.

The actor, one-half of "The Coreys" along with Corey Feldman, had a history of battling drug addiction throughout his career.





So sad...So many of the stars that I adored in my youth have passed away much too young.

Vanessa]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2713 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:38:27 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2713
Recently a customer at both of my jobs started asking me out. I did not realize it at the time, because the first asking out was just for coffee and talk about 10 days after his wife died. Here I am thinking it is a nice thing to do and giving someone time and an ear outside of family ties. Wrong. My phone now rings more in a week than it ever has in a month. Calls every day. Requests to go out all the time. And far too many liberties.

A few hugs out of compassion and a basic need for human contact is one thing. Forced kisses is another. I just feel really uncomfortable with this quick intimacy so close on the heels of the wife's death. To my mind it is just not right. Thankfully (how sad is that?) I have been sick the last week and able to avoid contact.

The talk right away that he could not cook nor clean should have tipped me off. He is looking to replace #1 with #2 and PDQ. Already he has mentioned moving in together. Like that is going to happen when he has 3 dogs and I have a cat who does not tolerate other 4-footed housemates. This above the fact that I do not know him anywhere near well enough to even be discussing this!

I was supposed to cook dinner at his house tonight, which we agreed on last week. Now last night he tells me he is going out to dinner with the two grown kids and their spouses. Well how nice. This is what I feared - being the dirty little secret kept away from family.

Yeah, I think I will crawl back in my hole and stay alone for anothe 5 years.....]]>
Recently a customer at both of my jobs started asking me out. I did not realize it at the time, because the first asking out was just for coffee and talk about 10 days after his wife died. Here I am thinking it is a nice thing to do and giving someone time and an ear outside of family ties. Wrong. My phone now rings more in a week than it ever has in a month. Calls every day. Requests to go out all the time. And far too many liberties.

A few hugs out of compassion and a basic need for human contact is one thing. Forced kisses is another. I just feel really uncomfortable with this quick intimacy so close on the heels of the wife's death. To my mind it is just not right. Thankfully (how sad is that?) I have been sick the last week and able to avoid contact.

The talk right away that he could not cook nor clean should have tipped me off. He is looking to replace #1 with #2 and PDQ. Already he has mentioned moving in together. Like that is going to happen when he has 3 dogs and I have a cat who does not tolerate other 4-footed housemates. This above the fact that I do not know him anywhere near well enough to even be discussing this!

I was supposed to cook dinner at his house tonight, which we agreed on last week. Now last night he tells me he is going out to dinner with the two grown kids and their spouses. Well how nice. This is what I feared - being the dirty little secret kept away from family.

Yeah, I think I will crawl back in my hole and stay alone for anothe 5 years.....]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2712 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:33:16 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2712
2. Would you consider buying one in the next year? Why or why not?]]>
2. Would you consider buying one in the next year? Why or why not?]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2710 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:50:00 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2710
Anyways, ive been looking through these threads for a few days now and am fascinated that ive finally met a WHOLE HEAP of like minded people, yay!

Im 29 and an environmental consultant, so i look at the whole child free issue from both a personal and altruistic viewpoint. I even found a website the other day called the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement!

Now, i wouldnt go that far, but i definetely think that humans are in plague proportions on this planet. Its funny, but by definition, humans ARE a plague, but ask just about anyone and they would never have looked at it from that point of view before!

If you wander down your street or through your city, imagine what it would be like with fewer buildings, fewer cars, less traffic, fewer people...more trees, more biodiversity, more insect and animal activity...fresher air, less noise, more birdsong...thats my ideal world :-)

Now on a more personal level, i do not want kids...EVER. And i remember knowing this ever since i was about 5 or 6. Im getting married in 2 weeks time and thank christ my fiance has 2 kids already cause that way he says he wont want them from me!

Its grates on me that i still have to put up with his, but theyre in a different State so it doesnt bother me toooo much. My fiance gets the best of both worlds really, he has his kids once a month for a week in Victoria, then he comes home to me for 3 weeks without them :-)

When i was younger i played with dolls, but i definetely had more of an affinity towards teddy bears, lol! I think thats where my love of animals came from and my furkid 'Galileo' is my lil pride and joy.

Its funny, but being on here the last few days, ive noticed that quite a few of us come from 'broken' or dysfunctional families. Im thinking theres quite a strong correlation between that and wanting to be childfree...i wonder about the psychology behind all that...? Even my fiance thinks that if i have a functional family, i would want kids, but i dont know...

Ive also noticed that even though we (on here) dont want kids, we have strong powerful bonds with our friends and pets. I think that says that we are not completely crazy! We ARE social people, just not in 'that way'.

Lastly, i just want to kinda say (and please dont take offence) that i believe its all well and good and HEALTHY to have an outlet to vent our frustrations about kids and parents, but too much negativity can be well...negative. I am definetley a RANTER when it comes to 'them' intruding on my personal life but reading all these PAM's kinda almost makes me feel sorry for the lil kiddies...

Maybe its just a reverse psychology sort of thing? "i dont like kids or parents, but talk dirty bout them, and i'll start defending them"
Wow, that was tough to admit to myself, lol! I dont know, maybe its my innate instinct to protect the underdog...

Anyways, nice to meet you all! Hope you like what ive written so far, if youve seen me around...drop me a line sometime.

Ps: im in Oz so that accounts for the weird times im posting, lol!

:-)]]>
Anyways, ive been looking through these threads for a few days now and am fascinated that ive finally met a WHOLE HEAP of like minded people, yay!

Im 29 and an environmental consultant, so i look at the whole child free issue from both a personal and altruistic viewpoint. I even found a website the other day called the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement!

Now, i wouldnt go that far, but i definetely think that humans are in plague proportions on this planet. Its funny, but by definition, humans ARE a plague, but ask just about anyone and they would never have looked at it from that point of view before!

If you wander down your street or through your city, imagine what it would be like with fewer buildings, fewer cars, less traffic, fewer people...more trees, more biodiversity, more insect and animal activity...fresher air, less noise, more birdsong...thats my ideal world :-)

Now on a more personal level, i do not want kids...EVER. And i remember knowing this ever since i was about 5 or 6. Im getting married in 2 weeks time and thank christ my fiance has 2 kids already cause that way he says he wont want them from me!

Its grates on me that i still have to put up with his, but theyre in a different State so it doesnt bother me toooo much. My fiance gets the best of both worlds really, he has his kids once a month for a week in Victoria, then he comes home to me for 3 weeks without them :-)

When i was younger i played with dolls, but i definetely had more of an affinity towards teddy bears, lol! I think thats where my love of animals came from and my furkid 'Galileo' is my lil pride and joy.

Its funny, but being on here the last few days, ive noticed that quite a few of us come from 'broken' or dysfunctional families. Im thinking theres quite a strong correlation between that and wanting to be childfree...i wonder about the psychology behind all that...? Even my fiance thinks that if i have a functional family, i would want kids, but i dont know...

Ive also noticed that even though we (on here) dont want kids, we have strong powerful bonds with our friends and pets. I think that says that we are not completely crazy! We ARE social people, just not in 'that way'.

Lastly, i just want to kinda say (and please dont take offence) that i believe its all well and good and HEALTHY to have an outlet to vent our frustrations about kids and parents, but too much negativity can be well...negative. I am definetley a RANTER when it comes to 'them' intruding on my personal life but reading all these PAM's kinda almost makes me feel sorry for the lil kiddies...

Maybe its just a reverse psychology sort of thing? "i dont like kids or parents, but talk dirty bout them, and i'll start defending them"
Wow, that was tough to admit to myself, lol! I dont know, maybe its my innate instinct to protect the underdog...

Anyways, nice to meet you all! Hope you like what ive written so far, if youve seen me around...drop me a line sometime.

Ps: im in Oz so that accounts for the weird times im posting, lol!

:-)]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2709 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:45:24 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2709

There are multi-week posts by her on Facebook WHINING about not getting sleep because "lovebug" kept her up, that just pisses me off to no end...hello, you planned this baby, you wanted it, you knew you would be lacking sleep...you have no right to complain. Then she "rejoices" that "mommy finally gets a night out" since baby was born...did I mention the baby is only a month old? Can you imagine the complaints in 3 years?

But the worst of it all? Oh no..the absolutely worst....is the Facebook post the other day of her exclaiming how much she LOVES sucking BOOGERS out of her baby's nose...EWWWW. And on top of it, three other women replied that they loved it too, and found it so amusing the faces their little sprogs make when they do it. This has me seriously considering deleting her...just for the icky baby-related posts.

I don't get it. Look, I grew up one of 14 cousins...I helped take care of my cousins and was around lots of kids...even when I WAS a kid I didn't LIKE kids....but I could tolerate them. But to be goo-gooing over boogers??? GAG me with a fork.... These are the same people who have full conversations in baby-talk, and discuss nothing but poopy diapers all day. Yuck. So glad I'm childfree!]]>

There are multi-week posts by her on Facebook WHINING about not getting sleep because "lovebug" kept her up, that just pisses me off to no end...hello, you planned this baby, you wanted it, you knew you would be lacking sleep...you have no right to complain. Then she "rejoices" that "mommy finally gets a night out" since baby was born...did I mention the baby is only a month old? Can you imagine the complaints in 3 years?

But the worst of it all? Oh no..the absolutely worst....is the Facebook post the other day of her exclaiming how much she LOVES sucking BOOGERS out of her baby's nose...EWWWW. And on top of it, three other women replied that they loved it too, and found it so amusing the faces their little sprogs make when they do it. This has me seriously considering deleting her...just for the icky baby-related posts.

I don't get it. Look, I grew up one of 14 cousins...I helped take care of my cousins and was around lots of kids...even when I WAS a kid I didn't LIKE kids....but I could tolerate them. But to be goo-gooing over boogers??? GAG me with a fork.... These are the same people who have full conversations in baby-talk, and discuss nothing but poopy diapers all day. Yuck. So glad I'm childfree!]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2708 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:20:21 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2708 KNOW!" Really aggressive and pathetically. It was so true too. I forget what else he said but that had me in stitches. Showing how people with kids are miserable and want to spread the misery. That was pretty refreshing, especially considering I think he's got kids. The rest of his standup was pretty hilarious, I had never been a fan before but I am now.]]> KNOW!" Really aggressive and pathetically. It was so true too. I forget what else he said but that had me in stitches. Showing how people with kids are miserable and want to spread the misery. That was pretty refreshing, especially considering I think he's got kids. The rest of his standup was pretty hilarious, I had never been a fan before but I am now.]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2707 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:45:19 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2707 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2706 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:18:10 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2706 I'm 25 and married to a wonderful man... I had my tubes tied 2 years ago before I met him, when I was getting out of my first marriage (shortly after a very traumatic abortion...that's all I will say about that).

When my husband and I first met we agreed on no kids...me having my tubes tied and all, I told him there was really no possibility and I didn't want any. Being an Army wife there is a great deal of pressure to have kids...and about 6 months ago I had the idea of tubal reversal planted in my brain...my husband and I finally sat down and had a serious conversation about where our life is going. We decided we like our life too much to have it changed so drastically by a drooling, pooping, snot machine that we would be slaves to! That's when we officially decided on being childfree.

I love my life with my husband, and I don't want our relationship to be changed like I see so many "parents" today. I enjoy being able to do whatever we want, whenever we want, driving a car not a minivan, being able to change our plans at a moments notice...and being able to plan our future around US! We are planning soooo many wonderful things! Starting with a vacation to Ireland on his mid-tour leave (he's leaving for Iraq in a few days). I will be continuing college studying anthropology/archaeology, then we will eventually be travelling the world after my husband is done with the Army, hopefully having our own boat to conduct expeditions from...it's a big dream, but it's actually POSSIBLE because we won't have kids! I love it!]]> I'm 25 and married to a wonderful man... I had my tubes tied 2 years ago before I met him, when I was getting out of my first marriage (shortly after a very traumatic abortion...that's all I will say about that).

When my husband and I first met we agreed on no kids...me having my tubes tied and all, I told him there was really no possibility and I didn't want any. Being an Army wife there is a great deal of pressure to have kids...and about 6 months ago I had the idea of tubal reversal planted in my brain...my husband and I finally sat down and had a serious conversation about where our life is going. We decided we like our life too much to have it changed so drastically by a drooling, pooping, snot machine that we would be slaves to! That's when we officially decided on being childfree.

I love my life with my husband, and I don't want our relationship to be changed like I see so many "parents" today. I enjoy being able to do whatever we want, whenever we want, driving a car not a minivan, being able to change our plans at a moments notice...and being able to plan our future around US! We are planning soooo many wonderful things! Starting with a vacation to Ireland on his mid-tour leave (he's leaving for Iraq in a few days). I will be continuing college studying anthropology/archaeology, then we will eventually be travelling the world after my husband is done with the Army, hopefully having our own boat to conduct expeditions from...it's a big dream, but it's actually POSSIBLE because we won't have kids! I love it!]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2705 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:12:44 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2705
I'd say something but you know what would happen, "How dare you tell moomie she's disgusting WAAAH! You're MEAN! WAAAAHHHHH!" ]]>
I'd say something but you know what would happen, "How dare you tell moomie she's disgusting WAAAH! You're MEAN! WAAAAHHHHH!" ]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2704 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:34:42 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2704

Thanks again!

Jo]]>

Thanks again!

Jo]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2703 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:15:06 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2703
This is what is humorous to parents, everyone can understand terrifying their child over coloring on mommy's precious wall, wall that is so important to her she has to have a guttural animalistic reaction as if she were the wall and someone cut her on her back with a knife? Reminded me of a 1st grade teacher who said once I drew on a table, that if that table were alive it would, then she let out a howl like someone was torturing her.

People wonder why there are more children, or adults depressed today? Maybe it's because emotional child abuse like this, has become fodder for martyr mommies to go on about. How disgusting, a culture that has grown around the idea that a grown woman should be able to scream like they're being stabbed when their child drew on their wall. That's how you act if your child killed your baby, not when they've tortured a inanimate object.

Why does our society say it's understandable when parents behave like they're unpredictable monsters? Doesn't anyone realize how terrifying it is for a child, to live at home walking on eggshells, in fear they might set psycho mommy off into another screaming fit? Wasn't there a time we said, people who screamed like they were being wounded at the least provokation were a possible danger to others, or should at least be hospitalized?

Have a baby, you can behave like a unpredictable monster who's child is left to wonder will today be the day mom loses her mind and goes on a screaming animalistic tirade, or will she be sane? I'm so sick of this, I really am. I understand parents can get help for this, and perhaps it could be a result of an undiagnosed mental issue.

However, it's disturbing when it's become now something to giggle about with your mom friends, "Oh hey I made junior fear for his life today, when I screamed like a murderer was running after me with a chainsaw once I found him coloring on the wall, I feel sort of bad about it." then the girlfriends say, "Oh it's okay, we've all been pushed to the point of primal behavior by our children, whom we're helpless again and nobody understands how much they make us suffer."

Is the rantey smiley new, cause it's just so adorable, lol!]]>
This is what is humorous to parents, everyone can understand terrifying their child over coloring on mommy's precious wall, wall that is so important to her she has to have a guttural animalistic reaction as if she were the wall and someone cut her on her back with a knife? Reminded me of a 1st grade teacher who said once I drew on a table, that if that table were alive it would, then she let out a howl like someone was torturing her.

People wonder why there are more children, or adults depressed today? Maybe it's because emotional child abuse like this, has become fodder for martyr mommies to go on about. How disgusting, a culture that has grown around the idea that a grown woman should be able to scream like they're being stabbed when their child drew on their wall. That's how you act if your child killed your baby, not when they've tortured a inanimate object.

Why does our society say it's understandable when parents behave like they're unpredictable monsters? Doesn't anyone realize how terrifying it is for a child, to live at home walking on eggshells, in fear they might set psycho mommy off into another screaming fit? Wasn't there a time we said, people who screamed like they were being wounded at the least provokation were a possible danger to others, or should at least be hospitalized?

Have a baby, you can behave like a unpredictable monster who's child is left to wonder will today be the day mom loses her mind and goes on a screaming animalistic tirade, or will she be sane? I'm so sick of this, I really am. I understand parents can get help for this, and perhaps it could be a result of an undiagnosed mental issue.

However, it's disturbing when it's become now something to giggle about with your mom friends, "Oh hey I made junior fear for his life today, when I screamed like a murderer was running after me with a chainsaw once I found him coloring on the wall, I feel sort of bad about it." then the girlfriends say, "Oh it's okay, we've all been pushed to the point of primal behavior by our children, whom we're helpless again and nobody understands how much they make us suffer."

Is the rantey smiley new, cause it's just so adorable, lol!]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2702 Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:21:35 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2702 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2701 Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:41:25 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2701 http://video.yahoo.com/watch/7031195?fr=yvmtf

This is too adorable for words.
Enjoy ]]> http://video.yahoo.com/watch/7031195?fr=yvmtf

This is too adorable for words.
Enjoy ]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2700 Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:35:32 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2700 for dinner one evening. She was impressed by the way her
lady friend preceded every request to her husband with
endearing terms such as: Honey, My Love, Darling, Sweetheart, Pumpkin, etc. The couple had been married almost 70 years and, clearly, they were still very much in love. While the husband was in the
living room, her lady friend leaned over to her host to say,
'I think it's wonderful that, after all these years,
you still call your husband all those loving pet
names'.. The elderly lady hung her head. 'I have to
tell you the truth,' she said, 'His name slipped my
mind about 10 years ago, and I'm scared to death to ask the cranky old asshole what his name is]]> for dinner one evening. She was impressed by the way her
lady friend preceded every request to her husband with
endearing terms such as: Honey, My Love, Darling, Sweetheart, Pumpkin, etc. The couple had been married almost 70 years and, clearly, they were still very much in love. While the husband was in the
living room, her lady friend leaned over to her host to say,
'I think it's wonderful that, after all these years,
you still call your husband all those loving pet
names'.. The elderly lady hung her head. 'I have to
tell you the truth,' she said, 'His name slipped my
mind about 10 years ago, and I'm scared to death to ask the cranky old asshole what his name is]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2699 Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:30:06 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2699 http://www.risingstarkaraoke.com/monday_test.html

This is a good one.. Please think things through before you answer.
I got 7 out of 11 and that sucks, lol
But 7 & 11 are lucky numbers for me. lol. so I won't quibble
Have fun & ]]> http://www.risingstarkaraoke.com/monday_test.html

This is a good one.. Please think things through before you answer.
I got 7 out of 11 and that sucks, lol
But 7 & 11 are lucky numbers for me. lol. so I won't quibble
Have fun & ]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2698 Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:08:09 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2698 ]]> ]]> http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2697 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:26:43 -0700 http://www.wekidyounot.org/wkyn/showthread.php?tid=2697
http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/pastpodcasts.html?42#ref42

It's the Feb 25th episode, I think.]]>
http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/pastpodcasts.html?42#ref42

It's the Feb 25th episode, I think.]]>