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	<title>Mary Anne Carter &#187; Politics</title>
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	<link>http://maryannecarter.com</link>
	<description>Mary Anne has her own blog now</description>
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		<title>All politicians wear masks &#8211; not just for Halloween, either!</title>
		<link>http://maryannecarter.com/2011/07/all-politicians-wear-masks-not-just-for-halloween-either/</link>
		<comments>http://maryannecarter.com/2011/07/all-politicians-wear-masks-not-just-for-halloween-either/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:29:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.monicakochelee.com/?p=390</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I feel that all politicians wear masks all of the time.    You can&#8217;t trust any of them to fulfill their promises.  They&#8217;ll say just about anything they feel they need to say to make their constituents that they happen to be with at the moment happy.  I think that maybe we should force all of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I feel that all politicians wear masks all of the time.   </p>
<p style="text-align: left;">You can&#8217;t trust any of them to fulfill their promises.  They&#8217;ll say just about anything they feel they need to say to make their constituents that they happen to be with at the moment happy.  I think that maybe we should force all of them to take lie detector tests before we allow them to run for office and see just how many lies they plan to tell in order to get elected!  And I think we should make them take lie detector tests twice a year after they get elected to ask them important questions about their integrity, and if they lie, they should be kicked out of office!</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">  </p>
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		<title>A Safer Playground For The Neighborhood Kids</title>
		<link>http://maryannecarter.com/2011/06/a-safer-playground-for-the-neighborhood-kids/</link>
		<comments>http://maryannecarter.com/2011/06/a-safer-playground-for-the-neighborhood-kids/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jun 2011 23:12:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Computers and/or Internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finances]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fun]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Local]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://maryannecarter.com/?p=1670</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every now and then I will hear a story about how a child has been seriously injured while playing on a playground. It always breaks my heart to hear stories like that. So I’m glad to know that there is a major push going on right now concerning playground safety all across the country. Many public [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Every now and then I will hear a story about how a child has been seriously injured while playing on a playground. It always breaks my heart to hear stories like that. So I’m glad to know that there is a major push going on right now concerning playground safety all across the country. Many public playgrounds are being torn down making way for a new safer version to be built, which I’m so glad to hear about. Such is the case with the playground that is right down the street from where I currently live. I don’t think that there have been any injuries there, but there certainly could have been and I just hadn’t heard about. I’d like to think that the city is just being pro-active and taking the right measures to ensure that we don’t have anything happen to one of the many kids that play there.</p>
<p>From what I understand they are planning on demolishing the old wooden and metal playground pieces and replace them with the new rubberized versions that are so popular these days. They are even going to pay for the new rubber mulch that is being manufactured for playgrounds and landscaping and even being used for equestrian areas, which I think is pretty darn cool. I found an interesting website for a company Rubberecycle that manufactures this safe and environmental friendly product. It seems that they were the ones that provided the White House with their playground that was built right on the White House lawn for their two daughters and their few selected friends to play on while President Obama is in office.</p>
<p>It is pretty interesting info to read and learn about. Anything that makes today’s kids safer is all right by me and the fact that they are using old scrape tires to make this new fangled product that is keeping up with the <span style="color: #339966;">hot GREEN issue </span>that is all the rage these days!</p>
<p>It will be interesting to watch and see the progress that they make down the street. I hope that it doesn’t take too long to do because I’d rather see these neighborhood kids playing there than running the streets. I’m sure I’m not alone there!</p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"> </span></p>
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		<title>A Welcome Relief</title>
		<link>http://maryannecarter.com/2011/05/a-welcome-relief/</link>
		<comments>http://maryannecarter.com/2011/05/a-welcome-relief/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 May 2011 04:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://maryannecarter.com/?p=1556</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[President Obama just announced on live TV that the United States has found and killed Bin Laden. I am relieved that this horrible man is no longer a threat to our country nor the people in other countries that have suffered from his vicious attacks over the past 10 years. Although I am not comfortable [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>President Obama just announced on live TV that the United States has found and killed Bin Laden. I am relieved that this horrible man is no longer a threat to our country nor the people in other countries that have suffered from his vicious attacks over the past 10 years.</p>
<p>Although I am not comfortable celebrating the death of another human being, I do not believe that Bin Laden was a person who would ever stop of his own accord and I do not believe that he would ever be able to be rehabilitated. So, I accept the news of death with relief &#8211; not joy.</p>
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		<title>Speeding Ticket</title>
		<link>http://maryannecarter.com/2011/02/speeding-ticket/</link>
		<comments>http://maryannecarter.com/2011/02/speeding-ticket/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Feb 2011 03:14:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Automotive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finances]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://maryannecarter.com/?p=1271</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last night was a really rough night for me. My oldest daughter called me crying that their landlord had just taped an eviction notice onto their apartment door, due to them being so behind in their rent. Her husband is working, but it is only part time and she hasn&#8217;t been able to find work [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Last night was a really rough night for me. My oldest daughter called me crying that their landlord had just taped an eviction notice onto their apartment door, due to them being so behind in their rent. Her husband is working, but it is only part time and she hasn&#8217;t been able to find work in over 6 months, so their finances are a total mess right now.</p>
<p>If they get kicked out of their apartment they will have no where to live and I really don&#8217;t want them moving back in here with us. I have my hands full enough as it is without having to deal with two more people in the house that I would be responsible for all that they do and what they don&#8217;t do. As soon as I calmed my daughter down I got into the car and headed their way with my check book and credit card in hand. I got it all straightened out, got them back on track, had a short visit with them and turned heal to head home again.</p>
<p>I must have had my head in the clouds or in deep thought because I was not paying attention to the speed limit and found myself being red lighted by our local police, so I pulled over as soon as I could find a safe place to do so. The officer slowly approached my vehicle with his flashlight in hand that he shined right into my eyes and demanded my driver&#8217;s license, registration and proof of insurance, which I promptly retrieved from the glove box. He told me that he would be right back, in the meantime he had called for back up and another police car pulled up as well, which I thought was strange since this was only a stupid speeding ticket.</p>
<p>Being nervous about being pulled over prompted me to grab a cigarette, get it lit and stepped outside of my car, since I had my youngest kid in the car with me and I don&#8217;t smoke around any of the kids. The one officer yelled at me to get back into the car. I told he that I wanted a smoke, he told me to smoke in my vehicle, in which case I told him that I wouldn&#8217;t because I don&#8217;t smoke around my kids so he told me not to smoke at all. That is when I started feeling that this was turning into a police harassment case. I proceeded to inform the officer that as far as I knew we were still in America and that it wasn&#8217;t against any law to smoke in the location that I was currently finding myself in. That really upset the officer so he made me put my hands on the hood of his car, while he searched me and asked me one hundred and one questions about my driving record, where I was going, had I been in trouble before, you know questions like that. I was getting a bit irritated at this whole procedure that I&#8217;m quite sure was police harassment and I just wanted to go home and put the whole day behind me once and for all.</p>
<p>It had all ready cost me $700 for their rent, $20 for gas to get there and back, food for me and the kid and now a speeding ticket from two police officers that really treated me as a common criminal. Even though I was very nice, I cooperated with them, used my manners, had all of my required paperwork, the whole kit and caboodle, this particular officer seemed to think that this was proper procedure and made me feel as if I was a victim of police harassment and I was really upset about the whole thing and embarrassed that it was all taking place in front of my youngest that had come along with me to keep me company.</p>
<p>The ticket cost me $200 and my insurance went up $20 a month but I managed to keep my oldest from being tossed out on her ear. It really left a bad taste in my mouth, one that I won&#8217;t forget any time soon. I have had a clean driving record for well over a decade and this really messes it all up, all because I was helping my kid out, arg&#8230;&#8230;..</p>
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		<title>Well, it&#8217;s going to get ugly in my family</title>
		<link>http://maryannecarter.com/2010/10/well-its-going-to-get-ugly-in-my-family/</link>
		<comments>http://maryannecarter.com/2010/10/well-its-going-to-get-ugly-in-my-family/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:09:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.monicakochelee.com/?p=401</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m sorry to say that there are a lot of bigots in my family. There are also a lot of republicans. I&#8217;m the oddball open-minded democrat. Don&#8217;t get me wrong, my hubby &#38; kids are also democrats; I&#8217;m referring to my siblings and parents being bigots and republicans. I am already drowning in ugly negative [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m sorry to say that there are a lot of bigots in my family. There are also a lot of republicans. I&#8217;m the oddball open-minded democrat. Don&#8217;t get me wrong, my hubby &amp; kids are also democrats; I&#8217;m referring to my siblings and parents being bigots and republicans.</p>
<p>I am already drowning in ugly negative campaign emails from well meaning folks who think that they can convert me to &#8220;their party&#8221; by telling me &#8220;bad stuff&#8221; about democrats. I am having a really hard time maintaining a good relationship with these folks!</p>
<p>Oh, how I wish the election was over!</p>
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		<title>Riled up over O&#8217;Reilly</title>
		<link>http://maryannecarter.com/2010/10/riled-up-over-oreilly/</link>
		<comments>http://maryannecarter.com/2010/10/riled-up-over-oreilly/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Oct 2010 21:19:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://maryannecarter.com/?p=1126</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I wonder how many times people use &#8220;Riled up&#8221; in conjunction with Bill O&#8217;Reilly&#8217;s name. I have only seen his show once or twice &#8211; I think his views are too far away from mine to make me want to watch him. I was surprised that the co-hosts of The View got so upset with [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I wonder how many times people use &#8220;Riled up&#8221; in conjunction with Bill O&#8217;Reilly&#8217;s name.  I have only seen his show once or twice &#8211; I think his views are too far away from mine to make me want to watch him.  I was surprised that the co-hosts of The View got so upset with him that they left the stage during the show!  To be honest, I don&#8217;t blame them for leaving the stage, but I don&#8217;t think it was the wisest thing to do.  Here&#8217;s the clip:</p>
<p><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/25uyFwWPOZg&#038;hl=en_US&#038;feature=player_embedded&#038;version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/25uyFwWPOZg&#038;hl=en_US&#038;feature=player_embedded&#038;version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object></p>
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		<title>How sad is this?</title>
		<link>http://maryannecarter.com/2010/10/how-sad-is-this/</link>
		<comments>http://maryannecarter.com/2010/10/how-sad-is-this/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Oct 2010 22:28:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finances]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://maryannecarter.com/?p=1118</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is terrible. Shame on the men that let this house burn down!]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is terrible.  Shame on the men that let this house burn down!</p>
<p><object id="msnbc4734b8" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="500" height="372" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=39510856&amp;width=420&amp;height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="opaque" /><param name="src" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="name" value="msnbc4734b8" /><param name="flashvars" value="launch=39510856&amp;width=420&amp;height=245" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed id="msnbc4734b8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="372" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="launch=39510856&amp;width=420&amp;height=245" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="opaque" name="msnbc4734b8"></embed></object></p>
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		<title>Time for more regulation</title>
		<link>http://maryannecarter.com/2009/09/time-for-more-regulation/</link>
		<comments>http://maryannecarter.com/2009/09/time-for-more-regulation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:32:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Around the House]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finances]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.monicakochelee.com/?p=476</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Over the past thirty years, the government has made huge efforts to de-regulate everything that they could possibly de-regulate.  They de-regulated the airline industry, transportation, and the telephone company.  They thought that by doing this it would increase growth and be good for business. Well, I have not seen any positive results from deregulating anything, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Over the past thirty years, the government has made huge efforts to de-regulate everything that they could possibly de-regulate.  They de-regulated the airline industry, transportation, and the telephone company.  They thought that by doing this it would increase growth and be good for business.</p>
<p>Well, I have not seen any positive results from deregulating anything, and I think it is time for the government to reconsider it&#8217;s stance on regulation and deregulation.  The consumers need more protection from the evil people who sell us tainted foods, and need more protection from price-gouging.  Time to start reining in the big corporations that make obscene profits at our expense!</p>
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		<title>The economy worries me to no end</title>
		<link>http://maryannecarter.com/2009/07/the-economy-worries-me-to-no-end/</link>
		<comments>http://maryannecarter.com/2009/07/the-economy-worries-me-to-no-end/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:12:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Around the House]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Automotive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Computers and/or Internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finances]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Local]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.monicakochelee.com/?p=431</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The economy worries me more than I&#8217;d like to admit.  According to the news programs that I watch and the Internet news sites that I read, the ever increasing gasoline prices, the increasing food prices, the floods in Iowa are going to result in HIGHER food prices, the price of milk will be going up [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The economy worries me more than I&#8217;d like to admit.  According to the news programs that I watch and the Internet news sites that I read, the ever increasing gasoline prices, the increasing food prices, the floods in Iowa are going to result in HIGHER food prices, the price of milk will be going up to $6.00 gallon soon and the higher unemployment rates all spell bad times ahead.  We&#8217;re already in bad times; I hate to think of them getting much worse.  I hope that when the Presidential election is over and done with the economy will recover. </p>
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		<title>What a schmuck</title>
		<link>http://maryannecarter.com/2009/06/what-a-schmuck/</link>
		<comments>http://maryannecarter.com/2009/06/what-a-schmuck/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:30:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Anne</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.monicakochelee.com/?p=413</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What do you call an elitist calling someone else an elitist?  I don&#8217;t know about you, but I&#8217;d call him a schmuck.  I think it is so very funny that David Brooks, the New York Times columnist went on MSNBC Live and said that Barack Obama wouldn&#8217;t fit in at an Applebee&#8217;s salad bar.  When [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What do you call an elitist calling someone else an elitist?  I don&#8217;t know about you, but I&#8217;d call him a schmuck.  I think it is so very funny that David Brooks, the New York Times columnist went on MSNBC Live and said that Barack Obama wouldn&#8217;t fit in at an Applebee&#8217;s salad bar.  When I heard that he said that I roared with laughter.  Applebee&#8217;s happens to be one of my favorite restaurants, and I&#8217;ve never seen a salad bar in it!  And to be honest, I would not be surprised to see Barack Obama in an Applebee&#8217;s restaurant!  I haven&#8217;t read yesterday&#8217;s paper yet, but my son told me that he read an article in it that Barack Obama has in fact had meetings in Applebees!  What a riot!  I think David Brooks should take a closer look at just how elitist he himself is before he starts &#8220;insulting&#8221; people with that term!</p>
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