Sigh. We still have cable. Damn CNBC. If only I can convince Mr. B that watching Cramer’s bold head for a few minutes in the morning is not worth $90/month!
Really, when you do an inventory of what is currently on TV you realize pretty quickly what a cesspool our networks have become. I basically tune in to news channels only and lately they leave a lot to be desired as well.
And I’m the opposite; I will very rarely watch any news anymore, unless there’s something specific that I want to see… for instance, the flooding in central Texas in the last couple of days has caught my attention because I still have a good number of friends in the area, so I’ve tuned in to get occasional updates. I probably watch 25% less TV from what I watched just a year ago. This time of the year I probably watch more Weather Channel than anything else, and even that gets old really quickly when they’re repeating the same story over and over with no new details.
@teriwtt, we’re having a tough time right now in Texas and Oklahoma!
http://www.wfaa.com/story/weather/radars/2014/08/26/texas-radar/14619929/
I’m watching the local news and they are showing some teens swimming in a lake, right around a semi submerged volleyball net made of metal, all while torrential rain and lightning are in the area. This has me really upset. Stupid, just stupid.
After trying to keep up with the stories by reading online, I just turned on the TV. I went to school in San Marcos for my first two years of college, then transferred to UT-Austin, so I have a lot of history in that area. Still know a few people in Wimberley and San Marcos, as well as several in Austin and another in Driftwood. The numbers I’m reading as far as lake levels going up, and where they’re expecting some of these rivers to crest is 2-3 times above flood stage.
@teriwtt, a sad story out of Wimberly. A family of four rented a river front home for the holiday, and it was swept off its foundation. Only the father has been found alive, the others are still missing. Apparently many homes were swept away by the flooded river Blanco. 
Sorry for the OT.
Yes, I read about that family… very sad. And yes, with this being Memorial Day weekend, I’m sure there are a lot of people vacationing/camping along not only the Blanco River, but the San Marcos, Comal, Guadalupe, and Pedernales rivers. I’m guessing Schlitterbahn is not open this weekend!
D texted me earlier today to tell me one of her good friends from high school who lives in San Marcos and just graduated, got engaged this weekend - I asked D if she had actually talked to her friend and she said no, that they’d just texted. So I told D about what was going on, hoping that she might check in with her to make sure she’s OK. Her friend will never forget this weekend, for more than one reason.
Sorry for OT, too.
I’m very close to Wimberly/Driftwood, there are still many more people missing. I know one family of 8 that was in a house that washed away that still haven’t been found. We are still getting hammered with rain and hail. Not too much hail but what we had was big, an inch and a half in diameter. Our Girl Scout service unit includes Wimberly and I have a girl in my troop in the Buda/Kyle area that I have not heard from yet.
3scoutsmom - that scares me. I actually put up a post to my friend in Driftwood’s Facebook wall yesterday, telling her I hope they’re safe, but she has not responded. I am trying to chalk it up to possible power outages and not think about something worse. They live on acreage and their place is high up enough that I think they should be OK… as long as they don’t try to drive anywhere in it and get caught in flash flooding.
Back to the topic…the courting vs dating is really odd to me. If courting is meeting with someone to see if you want to marry them, aren’t you basically abdicating that decision to your parents who arranged the courtship?
And how well do you know at 18 or whatever age what type of person you want to be with? I wish they’d just call it arranged marriage.
You can’t prevent heartbreak anyway. I’m sure these kids probably had innocent crushes on other teens they meet at church or wherever, right?
I’m also not real big on the whole “let God direct your life” or see if He is putting you together with a suitor. It makes Him look like a puppeteer and people are his marionettes. If that’s the case, why isn’t god just more specific and send us notes or something: Hey you, please marry Joe Smith! It’s what I want! 
I think the power outage/internet outage may be the reason. I just heard back from my Girl Scout and she says the flooding is a couple miles down her street and she’s ok!
Shoal Creek in Austin is flooding now, there’s 3 to 5 feet of water over Lamar Blvd. in Austin.
Finally texted my friend in Driftwood. She’s OK, thankfully! Will try not to go off topic again! (or will start a new thread if I’m tempted!).
But back on topic, in response to @surfcity’s post, it always peeved me when Jim Bob or Michelle would say, “So-and-so, and so-and-so have chosen to not have any physical contact other than side hugs until they get married.” But in reality it’s Jim Bob and Michelle who basically blackmail their kids… either follow what we believe, or we will ostracize you from the family.
I actually applauded the second daughter who got married (Jessa), when she and her new husband decided to not have their first kiss in front of the whole church; they went to a private place immediately after the procession and had their first kiss. I thought, good for them. The older daughter, Jill, and her her husband’s first kiss was rather awkward. I suspect that’s why Jessa and her husband decided not to do it in the church.
What I don’t understand, is how they truly believe that their faith and values are strong.
If they really had a solid belief system, they would not be so terrified of being in the world, to the point that they have to look at the ground when an athlete in appropriate clothing runs by.
One reason I read so much!
Remember Springsteen’s lyric “57 channels and there’s nothing on?”. Now it’s 300 channels and even worse.
I wonder if the Duggars’ stance on intimacy eg kissing, hugging (side hugs only) pre-dates or postdates Josh’s sexual abuse/incest in his early teens. Was the family already so strict about things or did they implement these protocols in response to and framed by what was happening? All this pre-dates the tv show, correct?
Josh is the eldest - and he was 14-15 when the molestation incidents took place - so they developed the family rules on courtship afterwards - he married Anna at about age 21. So these protocols were developed afterwards - but maybe they had them in mind anyway.
It’s a bit hypocritical as Michelle had much more freedom as a teenager.
A Republican state senator is asking that criminal charges be brought against the police chief who released the redacted report of the sexual abuse report in response to a FOIA request.
Yep, the people who covered up the sexual abuse face no consequences, but the police chief who followed the law and responded to the FOIA request before the document was destroyed at the request of one of the victims–we don’t know if was one of Josh’s sisters or not–should be criminally prosecuted.
I find the whole lifestyle depressing. It seems they spend way too much of their time focused on sex, either having it or avoiding it. Geez, get a life.
^ The focus on sex, courtship rules seem like a control mechanism to me.
Especially in regard to the females.
It seems like some people really love babies, but when they grow and begin developing their own will and are not as “baby cute,” another baby is desired, and the youngest is pushed aside in favor of the new infant. To me, it seems like a mental/emotional pathology.
I don’t have any idea if this mother and/or father are like this, but whenever I see a couple who has this many children, I wonder if this is what is going on. I had the same question about OctoMom, and the 65 year old new mom of quads who already had 13 other children. Obsession with babies even to the detriment of the older children. No way parents can develop a healthy, engaged, close relationship with 19 kids. No wonder they weren’t aware of the developing problems in their oldest son until they were expressed in a horrifying manner.