aubenades.org

Do you agree with Democrats, who feel morally superior because they feel supporting a government check from tax payers is really helping and is compassionate?

Or do you agree with the late Sister Connie Driscoll who helped people at St. Martin de Porres House of Hope in Chicago?

"Almost all the women who come to St. Martin de Porres kick their drinking and drug habits. Only 5% return to shelters. Sister Connie estimates that the citywide return rate could be as high as 40%."

"Sister Connie doesn’t encourage her wards to feel sorry for themselves or to blame society. She takes the view that they brought their problems on themselves-and have the inner power to solve them."

"For the first couple of months after we started, I had the same rose-colored glasses as everybody else-thinking these poor people have been abused and victimized. After a while you have to take the glasses off."

"We give every woman a job in the house the day she arrives, whether that’s cooking, security duty or helping Sister Therese teach the children."

We teach them to pay rent, utilities and food bills first, then prioritize what else they need.

The word on the street is that ours is a tough house, probably the toughest in the city. Everyone’s up at 6 a.m. and in bed with the lights out at 10:30 p.m. Children are in bed by 8 p.m., and 9 p.m. in the summer. No men can visit.

Other than a 3/4-hour pass to go for job interviews, the women always have somewhere to be: career or computer training, GED classes, Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous meetings or a job here in the house."

"Since 1990 the average resident stays 7 1/2 months, and every day we talk about responsible sexual behavior, the dangers of illegitimate child births and how to hold a job."

"People equate welfare with compassion. But compassion’s got nothing to do with it. A handout is the least compassionate thing you could do. Compassion means suffering with, doing with, being with. Teaching is 99% of what we do."

What do you think is a more compassionate and more effective way of helping the poor? Through conservative ideas of hands-on charity, like Sister Connie? Or liberal government handouts?

A copy of her interview with Forbes in the late 1990s:

http://www.larryelder.com/solutions/sisterconnie.htm

Only Liberals promote the entitlement mentality. that’s what’s wrong with the country today. Nobody wants to take care of themselves. This lady teaching women job skills and how to take care of themselves is exactly what needs to be done in the place of welfare.

both narcotics and alcoholic users thought just alcoholic abusers didnt understand.
well i heard that aa didnt under stand na &aa abusers

Different drug, different group. Generally AA has to work a "Stronger" program. People need more support, because alcohol is widely available. Narcotics are far more illegal and lethal. Both programs offer the support of not being alone, but a narcotic addict has different experiences to relate and would need to find more people like him (or her) to relate to.

Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics anonymous, they all require a belief in higher power or some kind of god. Do they work for non believers, for atheists or agnostics?
Or are those people destined to fail those programs because the programs are designed for believers?

I have asked this question already in cultures. But thought maybe i would get more responses from Religion & Spirituality
Im not going to one of those groups.
Im not a drug user and only drink at parties.
I was asking out of curiousity.

As a former AA member (and what I suppose you’d refer to as a "sober alcoholic" since I haven’t had a drink in almost 10 years) I can tell you that if you went to an AA meeting and asked this question people would be screaming that the program is "spiritual and not religious" and that your higher power can be anything you want it to be, including a doorknob. Then, after the meeting was over, you’d all hold hands and say the Lord’s Prayer. Yep. I’m serious.

This is one of the many bizarre and contradictory things about AA. Of course it’s religious, the 12 steps are ALL about God, the primary text says the program is about "fitting ourselves to be of maximum service to God and our fellows"…yet its members claim it isn’t religious. Preposterous, isn’t it?

Now, do people who aren’t religious fail in the program? They sure do. And so do people who ARE religious. That’s another bizarre and contradictory fact not only about AA but about the whole 12 step based "addiction treatment" industry: it doesn’t work very well for ANYONE but it continues to be the almost the only game in town.

Go figure!

i just tuned 16. just one week ago, i got a job. i work with a 27 year old drug addict alcoholic. he lives on the street. he’s a nice guy, he’s just not good to be around because he’s nothing but trouble. recently, he was arrested for possession of marijuana, and prescription narcotics. he was released the next day and he came back to work. my friend and i hung out after work. eventually, the 27 year old called my friend as asked him if we wanted to hang out with him. i didn’t want to but my friend did. just when we met him, my mom told me she was coming to get me, and i told her to meet me on a bridge across from the park that the two were entering. while i was waiting for my mom on the bride, a cop pulled up to me and asked where he (the 26 year old) was. and she asked my name and i told her. she said, "don’t try to lie to me, I know you work with him, and i know you know where he is because i just saw him walking up the same street you’re on right now." I was completely honest with the cop. I gave her my name and i said, "yes i do work with him, and i just saw him go into that park over there." I asked her to keep me anonymous, she said she would. (she wasn’t very polite.) when my mom picked me up, i saw her parked in a shopping center, and she left when i left, probably to pursue the man. does anybody have the slightest idea as to what she said to the man, and if he will be able to figure out it was me that ratted on him. The kid is strong and he would have no problem hurting me. but i refuse to lie to a cop. and i don’t think it was fair for me to be involved in the situation. does anybody know what the office will tell the man, because I’m getting really nervous. Thanks.

Let this be a lesson. This is what happens when you hang out with criminals. Work is one thing, association another. You should not hang out with the other friend either. The cop could have suspected you were working as a look-out. She was nice to let you go without further questioning. I think she will not say anything to the other guy.

Edit: You got involved yourself, it was your decision to go to the park, do not go around blaming the officer; she did her job and she did it well.

COCAINE
WAR STORY # 4

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im 14 years old and my family has a lot of problems. my mom used drugs since she was 14 until she was 18, then had me at 18 and stopped completely. she snapped when i was 9 and my sister was 6 and my brother was 3 and she left us with babysitters and other people and then finally let us with our grandparents. we lived with our grandparents for 2 years and when i was 11 we moved back with our mom but things were way worse. i am now 14 and have been back with her for 3 years. she goes to her drug meetings (NA, like alcoholics anonymous) and i have to babysit 3 times a week for at least 5 hours and i don’t have a choice. she pays me 40 dollars a month but refuses to buy my anything. she thinks that 40 dollars will cover anything that i need. the last thing i remember her buying me was school supplies and that was in august. i know its not all about things you get but im sick of being poor and having to live with her because she always yells at me for things i don’t do and im sick of her stupid narcotics anonymous meetings that i have to babysit for. i want to move with my dad when my sister turns 11 (she is 10 now) because then she can do the babysitting. i will still be 14. its either that or i live with a friend. when i am 14 i can legally get a job (i looked it up in my province) and i want to move with my dad and pay for my own stuff. my dad is way more poor than my mom though. he lives up in the middle of knowwhere, and he doesn’t have electric heating, and his bathtub doesnt have a shower but i figured i could spend a few nights a week with a differant friend and i could shower at my friends house or at school. should i move out i want to get a real life away from this? i really dont think its good for me living hear and when im more on my own i will be more responcible. i am very responcible for my age and people have thought i was 17 from the way i act. this is not some "teen thing" i really think it would be for the better. should i actualy do it though?
i did not want that. i want to leave home not listen to your whining. you know what your life was probley fine am i right? yeah its nice that she goes to meeting but its been 3 years does she honestly need 15 hours a week of me babysitting? and i cant go to school dances or anything because i can’t afford it. if i do than i only have 10 dollars. 20 for a dress (that looks ugly) and 10 to get in. that leaves 10 for lunches and each lunch costs around 3 dollars leaving possibley 4 lunches a month and going hungry the rest of the time. and i am not being stuck up about it you try living one day in my life and tell me its fine.
no i don’t want to ruin it for my siblings. they can live with it. i have another sister and i dont think she could live without my mom. my mom is great to them besdies the meaness and we have already been through social services i dont want to do that to them again. i can shower at home but its hell so i want to leave.
all im saying is im not happy. nobody can make me happy but myself so i have to take action and i think that moving with my dad is the right thing to do in order to be happy. im just scared up bringing up the idea with my mom.
no i can not live with my grandparents. they just retired and are living in a no kids apartment and are planning to travel. besides if i live with my dad it won’t be cold. it is winter now and im there and he uses a wood burning stove to keep the house warm. if i pitch in with some money from my job then i can get grocerys. i don’t eat much anyways maybe 3 small meals a day (about 1 and a half meals that a grown person would eat) and im not about to grow any time soon so i won’t need more. i am already at my full height. (5foot1)
so i think its for the best im going to do it.

Calm down, sunshine. Take a deep breath. Your siblings need you right now. You’re leaving home in four years, I KNOW you can hold on! (And your family’s poverty, along with your story, will help you get scholarships to get a good education and make sure you’re never in a situation like this again.) Use the time you have at home wisely: work on your homework while you’re sitting, and help your siblings to do the same. Find ways to stretch your money – get clothes at a second-hand store, and mix and match them, or sew them to make a fun, funky, original look. You’ll be okay.

I know that every day seems like the end of the world right now, and that it feels sometimes like you’ll never make it through the day, but you will, I promise. And the next. And the next.
You don’t need to put yourself in a situation where you’ll have to pay for even more than you do now, or where you don’t have proper sanitation. Talk to your mom about this, see if she’ll let you get a job, see what she thinks about you moving in with your dad. There might be things you need to know to make an informed decision.

The famous 12-step program is completely about you and God.

If God is imaginary, why is the 12-step program so widely used and praised?

Quick description:

The twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems. Originally proposed by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) as a method of recovery from alcoholism, the Twelve Steps were first published in the book, Alcoholics Anonymous in 1939. The method was then adapted, and became the foundation of other twelve-step programs such as Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Co-Dependents Anonymous and Emotions Anonymous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-step_program
I never said this was proof of God’s existence. Heck, I’m an atheist.

Read my question – if God is imaginary, why is this so widely used and praised? It looks like at least a couple people gave some insightful answers

The 12 step program is a mechanism used by religion to convert people. Ask any qualified psychologist and they will tell you surrendering to someone and admitting loss of control is a BAD way to go. Most addictions resolve themselves over time. People desperate for help fall to their knees over anything. Come on, there’s only two types of worshipers in this country: ones that were born into it and ones that were drunks and druggies and "found" it.

I’m trying to make a page with a header, a footer, and two horizontally-aligned columns in between (left=80%, right=20%). The middle columns won’t line up correctly though, it’s one under the other, but they’re on their right sides (left is on the left, right is on the right, but right is under left on the right).

Here’s my divs:

<div id="header">
<font color="#dddddd" face="arial" size="5"><b>GODblog</b></font>
<a href="feed.xml" alt="Subscribe"><img src="imgs/subscribe.gif" border="0"></a>
<br><font face="times new roman" size="2"><i>Overheard in AA</i></font>
<p>
</div>

<div id="container">
<div id="row">

<div id="left">

<p><b>Saturday, October 18, 2008</b>
<font size="1"><a href="javascript:HaloScan(’oct18_2008′);" target="_self"><script type="text/javascript">postCount(’oct18_2008′);</script></a></font>
<br><font face="arial" size="2">
There’s a correlation between honesty & your motives.
</font>

<p><b>Friday, October 17, 2008</b>
<font size="1"><a href="javascript:HaloScan(’oct17_2008′);" target="_self"><script type="text/javascript">postCount(’oct17_2008′);</script></a></font>
<br><font face="arial" size="2">
The universe applauds symbolic acts.
</font>

<p><b>Thursday, October 16, 2008</b>
<font size="1"><a href="javascript:HaloScan(’oct16_2008′);" target="_self"><script type="text/javascript">postCount(’oct16_2008′);</script></a></font>
<br><font face="arial" size="2">
Change what you can change, and change your mind about the rest.
</font>

</div>
<div id="right">

<b>Recovery Corner</b>
<p><a href="http://aa.org" target=_"new">Alcoholics Anonymous</a>
<a href="http://na.org" target=_"new">Narcotics Anonymous</a>
<a href="http://oa.org" target=_"new">Overeaters Anonymous</a>
<a href="http://something-fishy.org" target=_"new">Something Fishy</a>
<a href="http://12step.org" target=_"new">12 Steps</a>

</div>

</div>
</div>

<div id="footer">
<p><br><p><center><a href="http://www.freedomain.co.nr/" target=_"new"><img src="imgs/fdconr.gif" width="88" height="31" border="0"></a></center>
</div>

and here’s my stylesheet:

<style type="text/css">

<!–
body{

margin: 0px;
padding: 0px;
}

#header {
background: #fff;

width: 100%;
}

#container {
display: table;
}

#row {
display: table-row;
}

#left, #right {
display: table-cell;
}

#left {
background: #fff;

float: left;

width: 80%;

margin: 20px;
}

#right {
background: #fff;

float: right;

width: 20%;
}

#footer {
background: #fff;

clear: both;

width: 100%;
}
–>

</style>

I think I have some sort of inkling of what could be wrong, but I don’t know how to fix it and configure it the way I want… This has got to be so simple, please someone help me?

hello, i dont know if my answer will solve your problem but just try and see.

before your <head> tag, put this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="ltr" lang="en">

This is not uncommon – don’t suffer in silence. Words by Mike BD, produced by James G.

http://www.blamedenial.co.uk

http://www.morerevealed.com

http://www.orange-papers.org

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Ok, I am from CA. I have a felony in my record. Its for Grand Theft. Although I did not steal anything, I was aware of such action(s), therefore I was also charged with Grand Theft. he items at hand were worth probably no more than $500. I believe in the State of CA that is considered a felony. Either way. I was given 3 years probation. It was my first offense. My question is, how can I get it removed, how long do I wait to request to have it removed? This happened a little over a year ago. Would my current situation help me with the matter. The fact that I have not ever received a traffic citation, I have not violated probation. I did community service and volunteered with Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous. The fact that I will receive my Bachelors in 6 months. And that I want to pursue a masters. I know only a year has passed since the instance, but I want to know of what I can do, and when can I do it. It really affects when applying for a job. I know its my own fault, I made my decisions, but I have not worked since that happened. It always come down to the background check. I probably got 3 jobs by not informing employers of my felony. And no one took a chance with me when I mentioned it. But it didnt matter because once the employers told me they would love to hire me, then I told them about the conviction, and they said that it would be a problem. People don’t understand why people commit repeated crimes, probably because there is no other alternatives. Can’t understand the mind of a felon, till you become one.

You want to try to do TWO things. First, from your description, it is very possible that this conviction can be reduced to a misdemeanor. Second, you want to obtain relief under PC 1203.4 (sometimes called expungement). This site will give you more information:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/other/crimlawclean.htm