Quin

I saw bright magenta a few weeks ago. Poor girl. White+water=see through, ladies, see through. Knickers reeeally can't be any color other than white. She was so excited I think she just forgot. Or thought pale pink when dry wouldnt turn neon pink when wet. White white white knickers. Or they will show through. Q

Oh. The 5 year for an RN thing comes up,a lot. And since I'll be offline a few days, I'm just going to add it up here now: 2 years for prereqs 1 lag year (because all your prefers need finishing before you're competitive to apply, and you also need to cram in as many volunteer hours as possible, and ideally be working in the field (HUC/EMT/etc) that year 2 years of nursing school ________ 5 years Then MOST work as a new grad RN for a year, and go back and "5th year" (7th at this point) to specialize (peds, trauma, L&D, etc.)... So you're on year 8. And sick of doctors, and WHY didn't you go premed? So it's time to go back and pick up your masters for 2-3 years. Actually works out to apx the same amount of time MDs spend in school/residency/interning. But we all get suckered with the 2 years for nursing school red cape they wave at us. A lot with the idea of JUST an RN (5years) instead of a BSRN (5years)... Which doubles your salary as a nurse, and allows you to 5th year specialize and master. I'm adding this bit, because for your first year in prerequisite EVERYONE will be doing this math. It's the constant conversational piece as people figure out whether they want to just go to school strait (MD) or do it in 2-3 year pieces while also working (bsrn). Almost no one gets the strait RN if eh can help it. The pay is too lousy. In most areas the BSRN ads $20 an hour to your salary, and then it's 6 figures after mastery... So people want their BSRN / 5th yat/ mastery baaaaaaaad. <grin> so I just wanted to give you the inside track to begin with!!! Break a leg! Q

Retake? Yep. Fall? Noooooooooooo dooooooooont do it. Unless you're also retaking A&P. so it's just review. A&P is often a course 18cr per qtr students take on its own. A 1 class quarter for 2 quarters. Why? Tonight. MemoriZe the entire skull. All bones, all bone features. Over 100 items. You'll be tested on it tomorrow. Tomorrow. Test on skull. Memorize every bone & bone feature of the spine be able to distinguish a c2 & L4 without comparing them against anything. Over 100 items. You'll be tested the next day. Day after. Test on spine. Memorize every nerve & muscle of the skull & face & upper thoracic, INCLUDING their origin & insertion points. Don't worry, you have the weekend to memorize All 500 or so items. But remember, you'll also be tested on the bones and bone features of the skull & spine that you were tested on last week. And that's week 1. And. It's. easy.... Compared to a month in when more than half your class has dropped out, and you aren't worked "easy" but instead are told to know Ch6 (120 pages, with hundreds and hundreds of details -in Latin-) in. 36 hours. A&P is hard. It's a washout class for both nursing & premed students. They come heavy, they come hard, they come fast. Put your dog in the kennel, kiss your loved ones goodbye, and prepare to resurface in 3 months. But wait. Then there's the 2nd quarter (the physiology portion), when you'll be using the Krebs cycle for dart practice, making rude gestures at mitochondrial DNA, and cursing life. A&P is a monster. ((Its also where professors recruit for premed AND those golden letters of recommendation for nursing school... Because while about half the precedes wash out... 5 years for your RN starts to look like not so much different than 8+ years for your MD. And if you can hack A&P, and think diagnostically, med school is statistically easier to get INTO than nursing schools. By a lot. Some nursing schools accept fewer than 1:1000 applicants. In addition to rock star GPA you need 1500 hours of volunteer time in the medical field, letters of recommendation, Etc., just to be competitive. Although 6'000 applicants for 40 spots is obscene, people do make it. So whether its a major change to premed or a letter of recommendation... You want to SHINE in A&P. Which means pulling an A. Most A&P classes have 1-2 As out of 200 students. A B will still look good, becaus less than 10% of A&P students even manage a B.) If fall is your FIRST quarter back... Seriously reconsider taking A&P at all. When you've been out of school for awhile it takes an annoyingly long period of time to remember HOW to learn/study. Now, that may work in your favor, because no other class requires about 10 hous of study every day, and you're running mnemonics in the showers and arranging your eggs into Metacarples... But is also a risk. There's nooooooo time to mess up in A&P. no time to remember how flash cards work, or that you need music playing to memorize. Or any of the 1001 other tricks students pick up to work at their most efficient. It's out the gate moving fast. You know you best... Starting off at hardest means everything else in your prerequisite will be easy... But you're setting yourself up for failure if you ALSO overload on coursework. If you need he credits for financial aid,... Take Gym (study on the treadmill for A&P) and underwaterbasketweaving. Some fluff class that you can skip most of them and still pass..

I love the Catholic Church, too. I spent my childhood in cathedrals, have taken mass in Rome on Easter, cheered the Jesuits, laughed through midnight catechism, sat struck dumb through Hymns that bind my heart & mind. I love the history, the smell of ancient varnished wood & leather, and bliss out to incense. I love confession, Latin, stained glass, and greeting those before and behind me. I still wear my ST.MIchael medal. (All good things, and we certainly have the Archangels). I still listen to Tallis & GRegorian. About half my family is devout Irish Catholic. (I was not, although I loved the church my parents did not raise us in the church. My dad reached the 'take vows or leave' stage and left. For ME, the Catholic Church is a memory. Everything HAS happened. The Savior died, and the story "ended". I used to argue with my uncle all the time (and various other priests) about that. Why would GOd just walk away and leave us? Why did the story end? Why why why why... And was never satisfied with the answers. Why can't *I* talk to God? Why e intermediary? Why when Jesus said this do we do this entire different thing, instead? And then, of course, studying later about the misogynists who shaped church policy, the Pope who while in the best of intentions, to get people to stop assaulting prostitutes cast MAry MAgdalen as a prostitute to engender sympathy, the council which decided on the trinity and other affairs, the lost gospels. The, the, the, the. The LDS church, though, picked up where the story unaccountably ended. Is not worshiping a past, but is a living church. Life over death. What can we do over what has been done. Living prophets, the living priesthood. So for ME... The CC is a memory of what was, while the LDSC is an ongoing story of what is. I can still love it as a memory of what was, while living what is. ((Obviously these are jsut my own thoughts and feelings on the subject. I have no doubt many feel else wise))

Another option, as well, are MREs. Personally, I get Winter Rations when I can (harder now win desert warfare), because the suckers have about 4,000 calories each. Meaning 1 can last a person 2+ days in an emergency. Or, in winter and physical activity out he ears, 12,000 kc a day will keep you fighting. MREs are waaaaay too expensive for most families to stockpile them in quantity... But for a single person, or small fam, they're about perfect. Q

1) so totally not weird. 2) God gave use these lovely (alright, grey, squidgy, and totally gross looking) brains to USE. Right now you're reconciling your faiths. For most of us, it isn't "instant testimony, just add water". For most of us we have to seriously question, apprise, requestion, reconcile, and actually seek to understand. Whatever the case may be.. Heck. That's just with a pretty girl, much less with something as infinite as the divine. (I have the symphony of science running through my head right now... "The beauty of a living thing are not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put together" - Carl Sagan) 2a) We all have different paths to understanding. There's a long running convert competition &/or joke about how nuts were drove "our" missionaries. I have a fond memory of almost driving mine to collective apoplexy... Because I have a deep sense of pity for John Smith (and prophets in general), as opposed to weeping awe. "Oh you poor thing" is apparently not the standard response. But it's mine. I feel profoundly sorry for our prophets. It's one of the very last things I would wish on anyone, even an enemy. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful beyond words that we have them, and I love them... Which is why I feel so awful for them. Because instead of "merely" having to look out for themselves & their loved ones, they have to look out for what's right for EVERYONE. That is an unimaginable burden to me / it makes me hurt just thinking about it. Others view prophecy as beautiful/ a blessing/ an aspiration/ etc. My poor M's were far more used to tears of joy, and they instead got my "OH, the poor unlucky bloke." And yet, my testimony is as solid as basement rock. See? Different paths. Just in one tiny example. 2b) We all take different times. That's the whole "just add water" thing. Sometimes it really happens that way. A personal revelation so pure, instantaneous, and precise that its like diving into a icy water on a hot summer day. Other times, it's the breeze... So subtle we may not even notice it's effects at first. 3) Why do YOU think you're preventing yourself? You're inside your own mind, so you'd know best. Fear was one of mine. I didn't want to lose what I a,ready had. I was HAPPY with what I already had. I did NOT want to screw that up. As a matter of fact, I chose not to risk it... And got a bucket of water dumped on me on the freeway (personal revelation speaking) that left me sputtering and swearing at my Heavenly Father all the rest of the drive. He's used to that, by the by. I've had something of a playful relationship with HF my whole life. One of my best friends thinks my railing at God is hilarious... Becuase it's the opposite relationship she has. For her, it's an intricate and subtle thing. For me, the powers that be have to use a lead brick. Both approaches are perfect for both of US. They suit our love/fear/needs.If she'd have waited until God started throwing birds and buckets of water on her, she'd never have joined. If god had merely whispered at me, I'd have missed it over turning up my music louder. So... I was looking up one of my favorite quotes ... Because I plum forgot the reference & found it in this article as the first google hit. Whole durn if applying to just what you were asking about. https://www.lds.org/ensign/2007/09/seek-learning-by-faith?lang=eng Q (Ha. And if you were worried about length, now feel free to snicker at how I do blather on You're FINE )

Rape is raps. However, just like domestic violence, it's almost impossible to prosecute. Take a case I know from a girlfriend in Washington... Her husband drugged her, raped her, smashed her skull into the ground so hard he fractured it, and strangled her. Their 8yo son RECORDED the entire assault. Wife filed for restraining orders & divorce. What happened? "He said/ she said". He won. Because he was never charged. Because Washington is a consent state, and their son had filmed his dad without the father's consent. So the restraining orders were lifted, dad was given 50% custody, and all the family assets. In reparation for the "damage to his reputation" the charges mom levied against him. And because, being a SAHM, she couldn't afford the mortgage & bills. Of course, she had broken bones, months of medical treatment, had been a stay at home mom (so no job, and dad quits paying all the bills). So by LEAVING her abusive husband... She's alive, but has to deal with him day in and out for the next 10 years. Or abandon her child. If he'd done ANY of that to a stranger? He'd be rotting in jail. That's a very common story in the PACNW. IM considering doing an article on it... But these women, the BRAVE* ones... Who filed charges & left, who are on record... Are usually - under no disclosure agreements via the courts - are often still being stalked by their exes - have "hostages of fate" because their abusive exes are given half custody... And their exes use their kids as hostages - are destitute or nearly so (SAHMs, not having the money to pay bills are usually denied family assets -like the house-, and having no assets and no job, have custody given entirely to their exes. * Ut can be argued that the even braver ones stay married to teir abusive spouses in the PacNW... Because all the abuse circles know what usually happens... (Aka see above). So writing this article scares me, since it could mean the very real imprisonment of women under gag order for coming forward, and the possible deaths & assaults of those kids their a users are using as hostages. Is it rape? Of COURSE it's bleeding rape. Can it be proven? Rarely. And even if the abuse is proven... Almost nothing, worse than nothing, is done about it.

Blunt Warning: Mods... Please feel free to delete if you think this crosses any boundaries. I hope not, but obviously defer to your judgement. NONE of this may apply, but it's good to know: .. A heads up, since you're not asking for yourself... MB is often used to short circuit anxiety attacks/PTSD symptoms when meds (and accompanying discharge) is impossible (or undesirable). Even by those who would never use MBin any other context. Just like a person can redirect the physical craving for (closeness, sensory input, etc.) by substituting a golden retriever to snuggle with when alone in an unaccompanied post, or physical contact via sparring, or adrenaline from running, etc during extended down times in a combat post... Those aren't great initial PTSD stomps. If he/she is dealing with anxiety attacks that aren't bad enough yet to get turfed for... Stomping on them with MB, and then stomping on the MB later with substitutes is reeeeeeally common. (Successfully common). Successful meaning situational. MB in combat deployments, but not at home. Transitioned from stopgap / emergency measure to unnecessary. Open with their local leadership, not having physical or emotional affairs, kept their temple recommends successful. That piece of info, by the by is anecdotal. I wasn't LDS when I was active duty, so I had all the venting "available" to me that I don't, now, shame free. In talking with my LDS friends who are either in or out with a "How the heck did you not go keeeerazy???" Plus chatting up a friend who is an LDS sex/fam&marriage counselor about this very topic that I found out how much leeway in MB is usually given to deployed soldiers/sailors/marines. Not an open pass, but As the better option between shooting yourself or being discharged (or sexual acting out /affairs/etc). Meaning... MB is thought of differently when you're neglecting your family than when you're not dead yet & trying not to crack up. At least with those I've spoken to. Of course, there IS the percentage that goes off the deep end no matter what (either full blown sexual addiction or full blown PTSD). It's not a cure all. But, in general/in my experience MOST use sensory & substitution tricks as much as possible, MB occasionally as a stopgap, and out of the situation go back to their former way of life. As I said... None of this may apply... Because he/she might not be dealing with massive anxiety or minor PTSD. For those that are, most use orgasms to short circuit/jump start their brains into knocking off the suicidal etc. thoughts before they get out of control. By tricking their brains into resetting at "I'm okay"... LDS or not. No one I've ever spoken with IRL (outside of spouses, hence the heads up) view this kick to the brain as a worthiness issue or marriage problem. But a lot of spouses/parents get ice water in their veins when they hear of MB issues in the field. When, really, it's a neurological thing... Because the brain can't calm down... And starts spinning out of control. So instead of sleep, their brain starts kicking into a panic attack. Hope this made sense. Q

We had something similar happen (as have many). Starting in reverse order What I learned: - Compassion for others (classic example: nazi era Jews added). After all, if I feel gutted when I'm a MEMBER of the church, and have this as my end desire anyhow... How much more understandable their pain/outrage? - Respect for the rules. The rules in FamHistWork are in place for a reason. Several reasons, to be sure, but the KINDNESS to those in grief or in wait by restricting who can add whoms name when is just so very characteristic of this church that I love so deeply. ... Personally, I'd never understood why anyone would be upset (after all, either you don't believe, so what do you care... Or you do believe so it's what you wanted anyway) UNTIL it happened to me. And about fell off my chair in surprise with how gutted I felt. Absolutely gutted. I actually put the work down for some time (over a year) whilst I sorted my feelings out on the matter. My feelings might not make sense, but hey, that's what feelings are for. Now... As I go through... I'm EXCEPTIONALLY careful. There's a feeling of "ownership" that often happens with FHW, and when I start feeling "Mine. Mine. Mine." (Finding memo reference)... I back away. Because these people AREN'T mine. They have children, parents, people who knew and loved them. More than I. And that's just temporally. Now... ONE of these people (work completed) was my LIVING son. Um. Problem. He'd been in critical condition for about 6 months, but he pulled through. The "mine" on there I ran with (I hit the roof). Another was my grandfather... Sealed to his EX-wife... Who had murdered their first child. Meanwhile his wife of 60+ (and all their LIVING adult children also listed incorrectly, many with work done) years was listed as a cousin. Both were people obviously treating family history work like Ancestry dot com. Just clicking away. Well meaning idgits not even bothering to show the RESPECT to the spirits they were handling (click click click) that 30 seconds of checking would grant them. Drives me bonkers. Up the wall bonkers. So I took some time (after putting holds on everyone)... And really thought my way & prayed my way through my feelings. -> it's easy to get excited: like an Easter egg hunt in "finding" people, tracing lines, etc. So while I learned compassion for others/ respecting the rules... I ALSO learned compassion for well meaning idgits on their Easter egg hunts (morons) (okay, so maybe just grudging tolerance of the inevitable)... But MOST IMPORTANTLY... That while I may be "clicking"... I'm handling spirits. And I need to treat the spirits of others as I want my own loved ones treated: with respect to themselves & respect to those who love them. And with the respect I would think OHF would want us all treated. Q

ROFL...Kimono... From the Greek word for Winter. And what do we wear in winter? Robes! Not sure about other services, but the US Military at least has a windex-like relationship with Ibuprofen & water. Sick? iH2o. Broken leg? iH2o. Cancer? iH2o. Unthinkable that ANYTHING can't be cured with "Are you drinking enough water??? Taken your ibuprofen??? Well then you should be good to go!" Q

Right? And parents are usually desperately trying to get their kids to... Eat / sleep / wear clothes/ stop evading tax law / find a school with a scholarship program / etc. I'm just (mostly) normal, but we have profoundly gifted sorts in our family, so I've lived in those circles. For every "wow" factor, there's about 39 "I don't know if I'll survive". Atypical development is a hard hard hard thing to parent.

I'm behind on my SS on this / am not up to date on the doctrine... But here's my gut feeling; If I was burdened with living thousands of years, MHF must be seriously ticked off at me to assign me even more responsibility (such as the sole maintenance of the gospel) on top of everything else I would have to be doing. And thank the stars that others hold roles and its not all on me given the task of being everything to everyone for ever and always. Q

I had my passport at 4 MONTHS. Ha! Take that "My Worth as a HUman Being Depends on My Kid's Performance Stage Mom Lady" In all seriousness... No clue whether StageMom has encouraged success, has a brilliant kid, is just a braggart, or is totally delusional. You come across these parents in playgrounds all the time. I smile politely, and move on. Because people who brag about advanced kids usually have perfectly normal kids. People who are prematurely grey and are desperately seeking something, anything, to counteract the problems of having an advanced kid? Those are the ones to take seriously. Just my experience. Q

Most of my life. It's always quirky to be in a place where my skin & eyes are the norm. Whoa. I'm invisible!!! Check it out! Oh. Whoops. Not that invisible. Mental note... Next time ask for a different superpower. Q

Deployed in a place with housing? Get a dog. Having something to snuggle with at night, that knocks you down happy to see you when you walk in the door, that means you're never -ever- really alone. Deployed somewhere pet shop impossible? - Be around others. A lot. The smoke pit, the range, the whatever. - Find your still zone. Don't know your rate/MOS but it's that place before/during the exhale on a long distance target. No matter how wired you are, everything just -stills-. Ditto right before jumping, or whatever. Super useful to just smack that in place at will in other parts of your life. - Run run run (just don't break yourself) - Senory me bestest... Loud music, explosions (EOD guys rock, make friends if you like things that go boom), swimming, hold your breath, rough housing, menthol lip balm... Anything that sets your nerves jangling. Ahhhh. Serotonin & Dopamine. - Sleep Ahem. Also... Ibuprofen & water. Hey. It cures everything else, right? Q

48 is the new 28

I'm going to be a voice of caution, here. I worry that in trying to "fix" your father & his life via the gospel that you're setting yourself (and others) up for drama, codependence, & heartbreak. When we're in love we want the whole world to be in love... It's a totally natural / righteous desire of the heart to want others to have the same joy & grounding we've found. But it can also be destructive & harmful, to try and force situations because we "know" what's "best" for them. Because we superimpose our wants over their needs. I would counsel, personally, letting this evolve more organically. Share your joy without pinning all your hopes for family/stability/etc. in them falling as. In love with the gospel as you have. Kinda like the difference between praying for hearts/minds to be ready to hear, rather than praying for the end result. KWIM?

By the by... Since the Reps were founded in 1854 (and rhe US in 1776) I was just going to gloss over the 500 year thang... But it's making my teeth itch. Just a bit.

One thing I do when I'm having difficulty judging others on a visceral level is to find the parallel. Meaning to BOTH - Find the beauty - Find something that DOESN'T affect me that way. Classic: You find tattoos ugly Others find fat women ugly Both of you to feeling nauseous about them You can love the person, understand abc-xyz, but still have this "ugh" feeling. Finding something others find gross that I don't is actually key for me. It takes my "yuck" response out of the vacuum. For myself, I can't work in a vacuum. I have to associate my dislike with others that I've already got umpteen examples of why it either is or can be beautiful. It sets my brain up to actually LOOK instead of react. So! To continue.... But Reuben (Reubanesque women) would disagree about fat women (and umpteen other examples... Hugging my mama, etc.). But ________ would disagree about tattoos. Can you find ONE example of a beautiful tattoo or beautiful spirit wearing a tattoo? I bet you can. Whether its a Maori grandfather or a soldier returning from Afghanistan. Or Ötzi. Or a burn victim (tattoos are sometimes used in burn victims to either add pigment or to hide a disfiguring scar). Or, or, or, or. When I find the beauty in a thing, I set down my repulsion.

As a scientist... I ask myself... COULD xyz be true? COULD JC have gotten the heck outta dodge? Yup. COULD people from the Middle East travelled by water (or land bridge for that matter) to the Americas? Yup. COULD xyz... ? In every case where there is a practical premise, I not only cannot disprove the negative (not on a philosophical basis, but on the very real ... There are clear historical precedents & or parallels)... But every case I've ever pondered or examined... We've got those precedents & parallels. On a spiritual basis? Outside of science? I know many things without proof or parallel, quantity or repetition. I know certain things are so true for myself that they are unlikely true for any other person (in the idea that some truths are so individual they simply don't or cannot translate. They simply ARE.). I know my own mind. I know my own heart... Regardless of how well I express them, or even if I choose to. Knowing my OWN truths, I resonate with others. That click that equals a bone deep "this is right" feeling. Doesn't make anyone else wrong. True for me. Right for me. Simply, or synergistically. My first bone deep understanding of the divine? 12. Long before I fell face first into the church (read decades). My first "No way! There aren't other people who understand the divine like I do!!* Nope. Sorry. I'm perfectly content being a congregation of 1. And here's why. Whaddyamean all my truths which rabidly disagree with everyone agree to every point???" Cripes. Now I'm going to have to seriously do this thing. " 30-mumble. _______ * Not a better/worse comparison. I was just content to believe differently than "everyone". Finding out there were those who believed as I did had something of a coyote/roadrunner the ground lurched out from under me.

LOL... May I introduce you to Mississippi? And let's not forget 'Bama, North & South Cackilacky, Lousiana, and the whole rest of the blood Red republican Bible Belt in & around the Deep South? On Violence and Nonviolence: The Civil Rights Movement in*Mississippi | Mississippi History Now. Is only one of thousands of sources pertaining to racial violence in the south in the 60's. the 1960s, that is. Here's another "fun" one, that's far more politically minded... The literacy "tests" for black voters. Durn near to outright impossible. Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement -- Literacy Tests. Sadly, one of the only ways for black voters in the south to be 'qualified' to vote (or allowed in even the fringes of society (starting organizations, buying land, etc.) was to vote republican whilst being watched (or to allow your name to be used for a white man to vote for you), or become members of the Republican Party. So actual membership in the south isn't really something a person can look at as definitive. A lot of times it was a means to an end. (Same as in other times/places/parties. I'm thinking of the Irish 100 years earlier in NY, but there are plenty of other cases). As I said... I'm a midliner. Which means I DO vote republican. But it's also kinda silly to say (or intimate) that the republican south didn't participate in racial violence & dirty politics, just because I personally don't Like it or agree with it. Has the Rep party accomplished many great things? Of course. It was also predominantly the Rep party who blocked the civil rights movement like a linebacker at every possible point and opportunity. All my best! Quin

Broadly in USA terms to follow your own... Democrats - Liberal - Slur = Communist Republicans - Conservatices - Slur = Bigot &/or Warmongerer BOTH are afraid of being seen as not capitalist enough!!! (or "pro-business/ pro small business/ pro etc.) Those are our 2 MAJOR parties (most funded) but we have dozens of smaller parties from communist to green to libertarians to (et cetera). To date, because we have no campaign deadlines, only the 2 major parties have a shot (unlike the UK where there are advertising limits).. Because campaigns span years, and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. But any person (over the age limit, & meeting other qualifications) can run, regardless of party affiliation. It's not the party that wins, it's the individual. Here's some other polarizing / generalizations concerning our 2 main parties: - If you're a republican under the age of 35 you have no heart / If you're a democrat over the age of 35 you have no brain - Democrats = Domestic Policy Republicans = Foreign policy - Every few generations the parties SWITCH. Ex: Republicans USED to be socially liberal, and are now socially conservative. & vice versa. We're in one of those switches at present, with the Republican Party focusing on domestic issues while the democrats focus on foreign policy. Also, republicans used to be small government as a party rule, but have been lately trying to get the government involved in areas (like the bedroom as one of many) that they've wanted the govt the heck out of. So it gets infusing for US as well. Case in point... The Reps freed the slaves, and then burned crosses & lynched black voters 100 years later. And democrats are often the laughingstock of international politics, but by the end of Pres. Bush's term the US State department was in a frazzle... Because nation after nation made plain that they would NOT deal with a republican president. I have dear friends who voted Democrat, not because they believe in the Party, but because they were terrified of what would happen on the international stage if another republican was elected. This is historically backwards. Same thing happened to the democrats a couple generations ago. So... Unlike many parties who retain their platforms statically. The US ones almost go 180 every so often. - Both major parties generally want the same thing, just with 'minor' variations in how to get there. ______ Myself.... I'm a midliner. Meaning I want both foreign & domestic policy, the military & education, small govt & social services. I vote both D & R depending on the particular candidate.