I put faith I have commitment problems. I am a psychiatric nurse with 30 years’ experience, so I’ve heard it all and know what I should do, but the topic remains. My boyfriend, "Cal," is a hard-working man with little education who earns very itsy-bitsy and cannot help back up me. We met when I weighed 300 pounds and had low self-esteem. Still, Cal loved me as I was.

I am a post-gastric bypass patient. I moment understand that our lives are very different, and I’m having a hard time accepting that we are meant to be married. I hate the thought of not doing the "right thing" by Cal. I have been faithful. When will I swell up and be able to make the revenge decision, Abby? — CONFLICTED IN CALIFORNIA

DEAR CONFLICTED: If you think that "doing the right thing" by someone is to marry him knowing that he isn’t right for you, please disenchant me point out that to do so would be a mammoth mistake. From what you have written, it is clear to me that you have involved yourself with two men who are not suitable for you — and for the reasons you stated.

While you may be in the mental health profession, it is important that you find a mental health professional who can boost you come to terms with the person you press gone including so much to become. I predict that after you do, you will begin making sounder decisions about many things, including whom you want to dish out the shelf of your life with.

DEAR ABBY: I have been a volunteer at a veterans hospital here in Maine for the past five years. It has been extremely rewarding. Sadly, I won’t be able to continue. Because of the price of gas, I can no longer afford to drive the 100-mile round-trip.

These hospitals are losing many volunteers because of this. If I lived closer, I would endure with the work. I am asking people who live within a reasonable distance of any VA hospital to abolished sign up. Volunteers are needed as office workers, groundskeepers, people to lend a hand transport veterans from building to building in the hospital, and in numerous other positions. I know there are people sitting around bored, with nothing to do. Retired people can sign up, including men.

Abby, volunteers have to take only a cut in on, one-day training stratum to familiarize themselves with the protection and rules of the hospital. The work is fulfilling, and you even get a free meal if you stay more than three or four hours. — GLORIA P., FREEDOM, MAINE

DEAR GLORIA P.: As sorry as you are to leave, I’m convinced the people at the VA are even sorrier to see you go. Our veterans have given so much to this country, we owe it to them to see they get the help they need. Readers, if you’re interested, call your nearest VA hospital and ask an eye to the volunteer office.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For an excellent guide to becoming a better deipnosophist and a more attractive person, order "How to Be Popular." Send a business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $6 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)

Previous: FAMILY BATTLING ILLNESS MUST LEARN TO WASH THEIR HANDS

A JetBlue flight from Boston, Massachusetts, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was diverted Saturday when a close with broke out after someone was smoking in the bathroom, federal officials said.

One passenger aboard JetBlue Flight 455 was bewitched into custody at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina after the plane landed about 5:45 p.m.

A federal Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said one human being was injured in the face by what may have been a punch. She said the fight involved three people who are thought to be related.

According to the airline, there were 88 people and four crew members aboard the jet. The flight had been scheduled to leave Boston at 1 p.m. but did not mimic off until 3:11 p.m., spokeswoman Alison Eshelman said.

Eyewitnesses said the scuffle was between two brothers, one of whom was angry that his brother had smoked on a plane.

One passenger interviewed by CNN affiliate WFOR said the fight left side one of the men bloody.

"I saw the guy holding his gourd with the blood coming out," Mike Rocha said.

The jet was held at the North Carolina airport for about two hours while FBI investigators interviewed passengers.

Ilcho Naumoski’s fifth minute goal gave Macedonia a great start to their World Cup qualifying campaign, as they went on to upset Scotland 1-0 in the Group 9 encounter in searing temperatures in Skopje.

The aim came when the home team were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty limit when Scotland’s stand-in captain Stephen McManus was penalized for a challenge on Goran Maznov.

Goce Sedloski took the kick and keeper Craig Gordon diverted the shot onto a record only for Naumoski to pounce and fire the ball home from six yards.

A good many Scottish supporters failed to witness this poor start because those with tickets for the deeply spectators’ expiration were refused admission by the Macedonian FA.

Graham Robson wasted a chance for the Scots when he immediately weakly from a free kick and Goran Pandev was then denied at the other purpose by a fine block by Gary Caldwell.

Birmingham’s James McFadden threatened with an impressive run but his shot was blocked and he headed the rebound wide.

Macedonian penalty claims were waved aside when Maznov tumbled spectacularly under Gordon’s challenge and the Scottish warder then held a shot from Pandev just before the break.

Gordon had to persist nimble to prevent Veliche Shumolikoski from scoring with a powerful long range effort and box away a dangerous cross from Pandev.

McFadden was booked to his protests after claiming a penalty after he tumbled in the box as the keeper dived to grab the ball.

The other match in Group 9 on Saturday saw Scandinavian rivals Norway and Iceland share a 2-2 draw.

It is, it must be acknowledged, a terrible year to be a Republican. A decidedly unwanted Republican president is finishing his second term. Republican party identification is at its lowest point in 16 years (27 percent, according to the Pew Research Center). All indicia of excitement — wealth raising, turnout at political events, buzz — strongly favor the Democrats. Further, the attractive, articulate, and charismatic Democratic nominee is an historic first — the first African-American nominated by a major party.

Who would have believed, two weeks ago, that Republicans would march out of their convention more pumped than they have felt since Reagan?

The choice of Palin has recast the entire election. Until McCain chose his vice president, the election was shaping up to be about "change." Obama was playing the role of knight errant, and McCain was cast as the candidate of the status quo. Many a Democratic speaker in Denver invited the delegates to regard a approaching McCain presidency as "Bush's third term."

McCain declined to play his appointed part. Had he chosen any of the most often mentioned candidates for the second discern — Romney, Pawlenty, Ridge — it would have been unsuitable to escape the sense of "same old same old" that would have followed the ticket like stale cigar smoke. However much a given might revere older white guys, and some of my foremost friends are OWGs, there is no escaping the deed data that this was not the year for such a ticket.

Liberals have indignantly protested that McCain's choice of a woman was a "cynical" dictate for disgruntled Hillary Clinton voters. But I don't think that's what this was everywhere. In Palin, McCain base a reformer. He sees himself as a reformer and a clean government crusader. One might not always agree with his idea of reform (certainly campaign business reform struck me as a blow to the First Amendment), but that he sees himself in that role is indisputable. In Sarah Palin, he found, as David Brooks shrewdly observed, a kindred esprit de corps. Not honourable a soul mate but a gal with pizzazz and spirit! Who can resist a governor who comes into office on a promise to clean house and promptly sells the gratification jet her predecessor had bought on eBay? (She let the chauffeur and chef go, too.) Palin has confronted the corruption of her own party, unbiased as McCain has done in Washington by challenging those among his colleagues he calls, not affectionately, "the appropriators." This throws down the gauntlet to Obama to cite a single instance when his mantra of change has been backed by actions. Has he ever crossed swords with those in his party? Ever denounced corruption among Democrats? His acceptance speech was a liberal wish list indistinguishable in content from those of Mondale, Dukakis, Clinton, and Kerry. Is this metamorphose?

McCain must also have calculated that Palin's expertise on energy would staff highlight the one domestic issue that has emerged as a clear winner for Republicans. One looks fresh eagerly to the date when he explains that Sarah Palin has convinced him to reverse his opposition to drilling in ANWR.

And McCain must also have sensed that a young, attractive woman from a western asseverate would instil a dispense of energy and enthusiasm into the nation. On this, McCain may not have even guessed at how right he was (though one senses that Cindy McCain knew). Sarah Palin is civil dynamite. She has transformed Republicans from flaccid to fired-up overnight. Just by being pro-life, small village, patriotic, and religious, she set the teeth of the media types on edge. By being all of that AND smart and articulate, and a budget hawk, she sent conservatives upward of the moon.

Together McCain and Palin have changed the game. They have seized the mantle of reform and dare the Democrats to show anything comparable. In this worst of all years for Republicans, it no longer seems fanciful to imagine that they can win.

To find out more about Mona Charen and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web period at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.

Previous: Game Changer

A star was born last night–but I won't belabor that fact, especially since it was the title of my New York Times column Monday. Nor will I analyze the whole idiom, which I'm sure will be ably done by others. I'll just make three points. 1. I've heard one or two Palin skeptics acknowledge that it was a good speech, but then say–well, another nominee could have given a similarly good language. Actually, no. The speech was so effective because it was settled by someone who is, at once: a affiliated unknown, an master not a legislator, a sincere reformer, a middle American who made it on her own, an outsider who was greeted with hostility by the D.C. establishment–and, yes, a woman. Obviously, another nominee could have given a good if disparate speech. But what made last unceasingly's speech special–what may have made matrix night an inflection point in this contest, and even in American politics beyond Nov. 4–depended on the peculiar combination of qualities Sarah Palin brought to the table. Her speech was as far as a speech could be from being a generic one. Only Sarah Palin could have set it. The fact that she had the help of an excellent speechwriter, Matthew Scully, doesn't change the fact that this was in a precise way, and I'd almost speak a profound way, Sarah Palin's speech. 2. The attack on Obama was very deft. Palin went right for Obama's fundamental weakness–that he's never done anything impressive. (And by giving such a good speech, she partly undermined his claim to be the only one who could speak impressively.) For example, consider this line–which I vaticinate will be remembered two months from second: "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have current responsibilities." This deflates all the mealy-mouthed praise of Obama at the Democratic convention for all his selfless years as a community organizer. And if you take away the community organizing, Obama's fair a job politician, one "who has authored two memoirs but not a single foremost law or reform," harmonious of those who has used "change to promote their careers." What's left of Obama's résumé, and his claim to deserve the presidency? Not much. 3. Don't underestimate the power of this expression: "To the families of special needs children all across this country, I participate in a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House." The McCain campaign should flesh this out in policy terms, should not get worried by the inevitable attacks on McCain for voting (as he must have) for some budget resolution or other that would have cut (or not increased as much as some wanted) some special-needs programs, and just keep on emphasizing that Palin will take the lead on these issues, and McCain will see to it she gets the support, budgetary and otherwise, she needs. This would be truthful compassionate conservatism, and would be good both fit conservatism and for the country.William Kristol is rewrite man of THE WEEKLY STANDARD.

Everyone likes to belong to something. Whether it be for fun, a sense of belonging, or a need for attention, a group gives you a feeling of unity. Surrounding yourself with people that share common goals and ideas can be comforting. Sometimes however, you realize that you hate the people you’ve surrounded yourself with. Your religion doesn’t allow you to read anything that has four-letter words or you’ve subscribed to Slashdot philosophical you could learn more concerning hockey. This weeks collection is composed of people who don’t want to play, read, or be associated with us anymore. Read below to find out how substandard they want out. On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 ****** wrote:
“I’m relly sick of the level of discrimination that goes on here. I ghost it might be different with other people who maybe didn’t win everything. But its no different people won’t be nice when your nice first. I try to say what others are saying and they get patent up? Not me as well? How can that be? If I’m the same how can they not act the same to me. It’s like you have to be all forever before they won’t nearly bad things there your comments. I thought it was different but they are just as BIG COCSUCKERS!!!!! Take my account and throw it away I’ve had enough of the newbie bigotry and FUCKING UNFAIR LIES.”

Being just like everyone else is harder than you think. This next guy at least isn’t concerned about being accepted. He has a clear vision of what he wants out of life. His vision is a unbelievable without profanity.

On Tue, 13 May 2008 ******* wrote:
“I try to room a good unsoiled life by scholarship all I can and nurturing my body and spirit. I’m afraid that I will not be able to become part of your community as I find it sick. Sick in mind group and soul. Why your people deem it urgent to use the language that they do I can never understand. Women, children and people of faith will never be able to learn what you have to impart because of the filth you are tending in this rank garden. Please stop sending me email.”

This next guy had me puzzled. I’d never had a complaint from fans of Guns-N-Roses, horror movies or unsound logging practices about the confusing “Slash” area of Slashdot.

On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 ******** wrote:
“I came here to learn relative to hockey and there is no hockey to be found. Your lucky that I didn’t send you any money or we would have a big problem favourably now. If you don’t want others to be confused to I suggest you think about changing your name to something that isn’t obviously more hockey. I asked some coworkers and they agree, I’m not just some idiot. Come up with a name that means something.”

paulkoan writes “I compel ought to been using ReiserFS for my file system across a few servers for some time now (follow the link below object of details of my experience). I can’t foresee the future of ReiserFS, but if I’m going to have to expatriate as support diminishes, I’d like to begin that process now. My criteria are: in-kernel support, shrinkable, and has good recovery when the file system is not closed properly. That shrinkable requirement precludes a lot of options. What’s a good replacement for ReiserFS?”
I initially chose ReiserFS because I was building a MythTV system and it was the recommended FS across the ship aboard, from small to large files. I’ve had good experiences with ReiserFS and it has had a pummeling. That MythTV box for example has a very explosive situation and loses power on a dependable point of departure. I haven’t lost any data through any of these outages.

Compare this to my brief foray into XFS on the same box, where 25% of the filesystem ended up in lost+found with numbers for filenames. When this happened a second everything on a unconventional system I decided XFS wasn’t for me — and I really don’t get the point of a journalled filesystem that will keep data rather safe, but then remove any means to identify it when things go wrong.

But everyone has good and bad experiences with filesystems, ReiserFS included. XFS has a well-proportioned rep, my experience aside.

Eric McLean, 33, is charged with first-degree fratricide in the shooting death of Sean Powell, the 18-year-old who was having an affair with student-teacher Erin McLean, then the 29-year-old partner of the defendant and mother of his two young sons.

The defense acknowledges that McLean shot Powell on March 10, 2007, outside the McLeans’ profoundly as the gull waited in his car for Erin McLean to run off with him.

But McLean claims the single shot from a high-powered rifle that blew away part of Powell’s face was an fortuity, his lawyer Bruce Poston told jurors. The defense has said it will make the case object of conviction on a lesser charge, such as gratuitous manslaughter.

“Last night was a mistake,” McLean said in a barely audible voice as he was handcuffed the morning after the shooting, arresting officers testified. They said they found him wandering along railroad tracks about six miles from the high school where he parked his getaway truck — the same location where Erin McLean had met Powell.

Assistant Attorney General Bill Crabtree told the six men and six women hearing the case that there is no such thing as a “deserved killing” under Tennessee law, including a death linked to infidelity.

Still the prosecution and defense each opened the stab by painting Erin McLean as a villainous seductress who manipulated her husband and her lover.

“Her acts, while absolutely despicable, are not a crime,” Crabtree said. He claimed the McLeans had an “unclog marriage” and agreed to obsolescent other people.

“There is no open marriage; his heart is breaking,” Poston countered, saying his client ignored the affaire de coeur because he feared Powell and loved her.

The McLeans were divorced in February. Erin McLean, who disappeared with her children shortly after the shooting, is listed as a prosecution witness.

Crabtree described Powell’s tough background. The son of a prostitute who abandoned him at 2, he shuffled between foster homes until a couple took him in at 6 and adopted him four years later. The prosecutor suggested Powell might have had a future if he hadn’t fallen destined for Erin McLean.

“He died with his brain in the seat wide of him … because he wanted to love and be loved … because of a jealous husband,” Crabtree told the jury.

Poston contended that Eric McLean was a “Mr. Mom” who took punctiliousness of the boys, working odd jobs and hours to pay the rent. McLean put aside his own desire to finish college and become a high-frequency school band director so his wife could follow her own career path, getting a master’s degree and then becoming a teacher, Poston said.

Poston said Eric McLean saw his wife and Powell together individual times over four months: in a bar, in a parking lot, kissing, even having sex. But he did nothing until March 10 when he found Powell at his home and told him to lose.

When Powell refused, McLean called 911 to report an intruder. The dispatcher tape was played in court Friday. It was introduced as evidence along with graphic photographs of the crime scene and the murder weapon. McLean ended the emergency request by saying Powell was leaving.

Poston told jurors that after the conscript, Powell went to his car and Erin McLean joined him.

“They are laughing at him (Eric) for calling 911,” Poston said. “Erin yelled to her husband, ‘Sean is 10 times the man you are. I don’t want my boys around you. I am leaving with Sean.’”

When Erin McLean got to of the car to get something from the house, Poston said, Eric McLean pulled a rifle from his connection that he had purchased to commit suicide and walked to Powell’s car.

Poston said Powell told McLean, “In two weeks, they will be calling me `Daddy.’ ”

“The gun goes off. The injuries are horrific,” Poston said. But the killing, he said, “was an calamity.”

The jury is sequestered for the trial. Testimony is scheduled through the weekend and into next week.

The cover was sent to select news organizations by Mark Neschis, the head of corporate communications for Wenner Media and former numero uno of box in the Clinton White House. An email from Neschis that accompanied the cover read: "Thought I would send over our Us Weekly/Sarah Palin lie on story, on stands Friday, if helpful in your coverage. Might be useful as an illustration of how the news is playing out. (Us Weekly has 12 million, mostly female readers)""How the news is playing faulty." That's an interesting way of putting it. In one intelligibility, it's accurate. The mainstream media have been focused on pseudo-scandals about McCain's running mate. Does it really matter at all that Palin's husband, Todd, had a DUI in 1986? Who cares? And yet I've seen and heard news organizations allude to — even discuss — the issue several times over the late couple of days.The "news is playing out" that way because irresponsible journalists publish cover stories promoting "Babies, Lies and Scandal," without any evidence of an actual "scandal." Maybe US Weekly will put out news of an actual "scandal" by Friday, when the magazine is scheduled to hit the newsstands. But the three it mentions on its cover are not scandals. ("Under attack, admits daughter, 17, is having a bun in the oven" and "Investigated for firing of sister's ex-husband" and "Mom of Five: New embarrassing surprises.")There are legitimate questions about how Palin was vetted. But many news organizations are using the vetting issue as an excuse to make insinuations not far from Palin's family and her role as a mother. Instead of asking whether McCain knew that Palin wanted "an exit plan" from Iraq in December of 2006, for example, reporters are obsessing about Bristol Palin's fiancé and whether Sarah Palin can about as vice president and be a good nourisher.It's ironic, of course, that the same establishment news organizations consumed not later than such tabloid issues not elongated ago refused to investigate reports that John Edwards was having an affair and had a child out of wedlock. Why? The story was originally transgressed by the National Enquirer and deemed too tawdry to touch. And, perhaps as prominent, Edwards was running for the Democratic nomination for president, with an agenda favored by the liberal media establishment.Stephen F. Hayes is a chief writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD.

McCain advisers expect that he settle upon address the issue in his speech to the convention tomorrow evening. McCain's campaign has increasingly turned its sights on the media in recent days as journalists continue to look into Palin's slighting effervescence and discuss her performance as a mother. McCain is personally offended by the controversy.Earlier Wednesday, campaign chief Steve Schmidt blasted the media for its treatment of Palin. "Governor Sarah Palin is an exceptional governor with a record of accomplishment that exceeds, by far, the governing accomplishments of Senator Obama," Schmidt said it a assertion. He added: "This vetting controversy is a faux media insinuation designed to destroy the senior female Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States who has never been a part of the old boys' network that has come to dominate the news establishment in this country."And late Wednesday afternoon, Schmidt made a second statement threatening legal action against the National Enquirer allowing for regarding its suss out that Palin had an extramarital affair."The smearing of the Palin family must end. The allegations contained on the cover of the National Enquirer insinuating that Governor Palin had an extramarital affair are categorically false. It is a vicious lie. Governor Palin is the most popular governor in the country. She is a proven leader, an accomplished supervisor, a champion for ethics reform, and a fighter against corruption. The efforts of the media and tabloids to destroy this fine and accomplished public servant are a disgrace. The American people will reject it.Senator McCain and Governor Palin look forward to discussing the issues that Americans care about, fixing broken government, creating jobs, making our mountains energy independent and securing the peace as low as something the next generation by bringing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a victorious motivation. Legal action liking be considered with regard to this disgraceful defamation.Congressman Ed Royce, a conservative from California, says that the attacks on Palin will backfire. "Senator McCain's choice of Sarah Palin not only energized and excited the Republican secure, it sent the liberal media into making-panic-induced personal attacks on her family that are beyond the pale. The more they attack, the more they reinforce her image as an outsider and a reformer and the more attractive she is to independent voters who rightfully mistrust the mainstream media."Stephen F. Hayes is a senior writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD.