I can't reconcile my distaste for 99% of the shows you describe with my love of "dexter'. Maybe because there is more to it than the sensationalism.

Expecting to find anything resembling profundity or spirtual edification on television is like looking for true love in a cathouse.

Harry's Law also did a good job of humanizing the defendants, no matter how serious the charges.

I'll bet the screenwriters were, too.

Great series, though, if you like the genre.  Good writing, photography and general production values.  I think the original plan was one season for each of the five(?) books, so I hope it makes it.  I heard it's a fairly expensive series ($60-70 million/season?), so fingers crossed.

We went through much of this with our daughter, and now she is mostly done.  According to her dad, her brain is done now.  In her peer group, for her age and by her actions I would say she is a good example and leader.  She is not afraid to be who she is and defines her boundaries and standards clearly, very clearly.  It would seem though that adults who are strong within themselves do not often have idyllic teen years.

When I really wanted to kill her, an old Chaplain kept telling me when my husband was away on deployments that with many teens we build the bridge and they burn it down, we build the bridge and they burn it down.  He had an enormous education in psychology and family dynamics too.  He promised me that this too would pass, but it is the most difficult long term time I've ever had.  I was fit to be tied every single day.

They all so want to be done with being kids - they seem to think the adult world is so much more fun, because no one tells you what to do and you don't have to do things you don't want to.  It is so hard not to laugh in their faces when they get like this, because we all know that, short of having the infinite choices being independently wealthy would provide, very few of us have the freedom these kids think we do.

I used to tell the girls that they had the choice to close the doors to their options and opportunities, or keep them open, and if keeping them open meant doing the stupid homework for courses they "knew" they would never need, or studying for tests they thought were a waste of time, or going to classes they hated, or dealing with teachers they didn't like, then they needed to do that.  That they needed to develop the adult skill of selectively sucking it up to get to what they wanted and where they wanted to be.  

It's all about whether they are going to let "this is stupid" or "that's not fair" decide what their choices are going to be later, when they can't be undone.

They can choose to fail; that is actually a choice, I think.  But is that the choice they're trying to make?  What would they tell their own child if they were the parent?

No one ever tells you how hard it's going to be - well, they try, but we're all so sure that it will never be like that for us, that we won't make the same mistakes others do.   Oh, if only, huh?

He told us that most problems such as the ones we were having were a result of the unfair positions the parties start from. The parents talk from a position of up here, and the child from down there. Consequently, everyone talks past each other. He said to forget the child is a child and, instead talk to him as if he were an adult. That's easier said than done, of course, but it turned out to be the miracle answer for us.

My friend told us to talk to my son as if he were a college professor, and not a kid. Use all the big words you would with the prof., the big concepts, and the advanced ideas.

To make a long story short, I confronted my son and said, "Joe (not Joey,) you don't like being treated like a kid, so from this day forward I'm going to talk with you as an equal. I'm going to appeal to your brain, your intellect, and your common sense. And, no matter what the conflict is, or the discussion we're having, you're going to live with the results. If you reject my advice on an issue, fine, but you will live with the results. If they're bad, I won't be there to rescue you. If they're good, you'll get an apology out of me, and all the credit you earned. Grown ups don't go around slamming doors, screaming obscenities, or disrespecting one another when one party is sacrificing themselves for the good of the other. Pejorative comments will not be allowed in this house, and if you don't know what that word means, go look it up in the dictionary. So, think it over, and if you're ready for this new relationship, so am I. Let me know what you want to do."

Joe is in his mid twenties now. He's married to a wonderful young lady, founded his own growing million dollar business, and, for the last 10 years, has been a part time police officer, and firefighter. I would tell you how proud I am of him, but my crying would cause me to not finish this note.

Just think about it. Everyone's different, I know.

Try the opposite. Desensitize her to that reaction. Start at a distance far away from other dogs (before she starts reacting to them) and have her sit and watch you, reward and move on. Any time you see another dog in the distance, work with her before she hits her react point. Eventually, you should be able to work closer and closer and walk past other dogs. Or you may always need to keep a bit of distance if it turns out she's just matured in to a dog aggressive dog. But you should be able to come to some sort of resolution to walk her peacefully. Also, cross the street when you see other dogs being walked toward you until you can start getting a constant reaction/calmness from your girl. I use the dog park as a testing ground after I get the dog to a certain point of control. BUT! I start far away again and work closer over time. Do the same with parks where lots of dogs are.

I lost my beautiful Othello a couple of months ago to an accident.  It was my fault too.  I was so sick about it and stricken I couldn't even talk about it.  He had such a good nature.  I had my granddaughter Zoey with me right before the accident though and she wanted to walk Othello so we were along the road above our house.  Zoey had him on leash and a dog began approaching, it was still pretty distant but he got really upset.  I had never seen him like that.  It kind of scared me, maybe he was changing somehow and not in a good way.  I had never seen him be this overly protective of Joshua.  As the dog got closer though I recognized it.  It lives about a mile down the road but it had bitten two people, one of them the son of one of Josh's past school teachers.  Othello had never really been around the dog before, and this wasn't a scary looking dog (border collie mix) I don't know how he knew from a distance that this dog was a biter of little people, but somehow he knew.

Sometimes dogs that have a certain "look" trigger other dogs too.  The dogs I have most noted triggering other dogs are boxers.  It is odd too because in general boxers are usually pretty kind hearted, but something about their look and the way they carry themselves seems to sometimes trigger other dogs.  Is this the doggy with the sensitive toenails too?  I remember a Great Dane on here having sensitive nails like our dog Auburn.  Auburn is a very dominant female dog too.  I think it is part of her dominance that it is a virtual rodeo to trim her nails without sedating her.

But as a former longtime dog owner, my advice is to always remember that dogs and cats are social creatures that innately respect hierarchy. You have to establish yourself as the alpha in your relationship with your pet, and make sure he or she gets it. Once they get that, they'll respect you.

Because if you don't, your pet will soon see herself as the alpha and will quickly learn to ignore you whenever she thinks it convenient. That's not a good place to be with a big dog like a great dane. Spare the prong, spoil the dane.

"25% are less likely to vote for the President because of his support of same-sex marriage (many of them are Republicans). Fewer -- 16% -- are more likely to back him because if it."

"Most Americans favor some type of legal recognition of same-sex relationships, including 38% who support marriage. When asked directly whether same-sex marriage should be legal or not, 42% say it should be, but 51% say it should not."

Among independents it's 14% more likely, 22% less likely.

Possibly the most ironic thing in this poll:

"The President's job approval rating in this poll is 50%, while 48% disapprove. With the exception of just after the killing of Osama bin Laden, 50% is the highest his approval rating has been in the last two years."