Wellfleet

Spot-on. Jessa is at the very beginning now, far behind most girls her age. Because of her sheltered, insulated, even cloistered upbringing, she's at the point now that most girls are at when they're 13 or 14 years old. But somehow, like the vast majority of teens & 20-somethings - I was the very same myself - she thinks she has this Life thing knocked. Which makes her holier-than-thou, super-righteous attitude [ben's too] even more offensive.

Celebrity stories, oooh fun! Let's see. Well, I met William Shatner when he did a one-man show at my college in the mid 70s. And I was in the second row when Jay Leno performed at my university in the early 90s - literally close enough to see what color socks Jay was wearing. Oh yeah, my father was in a movie called Night People with Gregory Peck in the early 50s. Or as my Dad liked to say, "Gregory Peck was in a movie with me..." LOL. It was filmed in post-war Berlin in 1953, and Dad, who was a 23-year old MP at the time, was chosen, along with a few others, from 1000s of soldiers stationed there in the American sector. He's seen in the very beginning of the movie looking in a store window. PS - my Dad was a handsome young son-of-a-gun with his Army uniform and wavy blond hair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47NWmhalMD8 My hero, Bill Maher, mentioned Josh this week - enjoy. PS - hope this works. I've never added a link before. If not, 'copy & paste' should do it.

They don't sell their e-mail lists to anyone? Well, that's one good thing then...

Good grief, that would make me crazy too. Honestly, the more I hear about Facebook, the happier I am with my decision to not become involved. Besides it's now about 10 times bigger than it was when my sisters were trying to talk me into joining. The sheer size of it now is terrifying, which must be making it positively irresistible to hackers the world over. And the law of averages tells us that one day, one of them is going to get lucky. Besides I can't imagine how much MORE e-junk mail I'd get if I was on Facebook. I'll pass, thanks.

Agree 100%. And let's not forget more Hallmark holidays and events - Boss' Day, Administrative Professionals Day, Sweetest Day, etc etc. Soon enough there'll be for every day in the year. I can see them coming - Mail Carrier's Day, Hairdresser's Day, Teacher's Day. The only way to deal with them is to ignore them. It's hard, but it's the only way. After all, the florists and the card companies and the restaurants and the jewelry stores can't MAKE you feel guilty about not buying anything. Only we can do that to ourselves...

I really wonder whether Boob still has/ever had the clout to insist on conditions with TLC. In the last year especially, it seemed to me at times like TLC was deliberately showing the family, Ma & Pa especially, in a less-than-favorable light. The "marriage counseling" episodes come to mind, and it goes without saying - the soft core porn mini-golf. The first time I saw the golf thing, I truly felt like TLC was trying to make Mr & Mrs look ridiculous. If they were going for a 'Parents of the Year' vibe, wouldn't they absolutely have cut that footage?

Yep, I think this is what it will actually take for the Duggars, any or all of them, to stay on TV. Real change - or additional scandal - in their lives. It's over, TLC. How dim are the Powers That Be in your organization that after 4 months, you STILL can't recognize and accept this?

I've never had a baby but I'm guessing Jill's "birth experience" was heavily-edited because if it hadn't been, it would have been crystal-clear to a lot of viewers what poor decisions she was making regarding what to do - and when to do it. Also, from what I've read, it seems to have taken several days - !!! - from start to finish.

IMO, the Duggars and assorted Duggar-lings will always be able to find justification for their grifting. Whether it's good or not is another matter entirely, but they'll ALWAYS be able to find justification.

This is exactly what I was just about to write, but cmr2014 did it far better than I could. The resurrected TV "careers" of Jill, Jessa, Ben & Derick have a year to go, tops. Not one of this foursome is remotely interesting. Or likable. Or articulate. Four personalities with as much spark as a dead flashlight battery. Unless they plan to break away from Gothardism, go to [real] college, get jobs where you earn an income/not beg for one, limit the sizes of their families and see their children properly educated, I can't imagine what they could do or show that would be of interest to the non leg-humping population. More pathetic management by TLC. The Duggars were already coming to the end of their run. Even if there had been no Joshgate I and II, it was pretty clear that things were winding down for them. TLC is truly trying to squeeze blood from a stone.

Hey, Boob & Me-chelle didn't know about Josh & Ashley Madison. Absolutely makes me wonder what else they don't know about. Among the many things they never considered when deciding to have all these children was the fact that the more children you have, the more opportunities there are for them to mess up...

I truly hope you're right, Marigold. It could happen. But Duggar history sure doesn't make it seem all that likely...

Didn't Anna fly - with her kids but without Josh - to Jill's wedding? Or was it Jessa's? Josh tried to crank up some phony drama about whether or not he'd make it on time for the wedding - probably at some producer's urging. But Anna was not accompanied on the flight by any male family member.

Requiring so little coursework at the degree-granting school IS definitely odd. At least it is at regionally-accredited schools. I'm sure there are many non-accredited institutions where the rules are far more lax though. I worked in graduate admissions for 15 years at a major northeastern university. Although I only know the actual guidelines for my own state, I understand that most regionally-accredited schools require a student to complete approximately a minimum of one year of work to issue a degree. In other words, you can bring about 3 years of transfer credits with you for a bachelor's degree, and these can come from many different schools - I once had an applicant who'd been in the military and submitted about 15 transcripts with his application - but generally your final year of study MUST be spent at the school issuing your diploma. I would be extremely wary of schools that accept a lot of transfer credit, then grant that student a degree after he/she completed only 3-4 classes there. And there ARE schools like that in existence. As with most things, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. These days I personally think the smartest thing to do is to avoid the schools that advertise, especially on TV.

Me too, Julia. My parents, and especially my father, were BIG on competence and quality. Dad brought a video home from work once to show the whole family - Tom Peters' In Search of Excellence - that he'd seen with his team at work. We were all in our mid 30s, late 20s at the time and moved out of the house. So Dad made us all watch it right after our annual Easter breakfast gathering - it was the first opportunity he had when we were all together at my parents. PS - highly recommend it. Dad said, and he was right - that "everyone who has a job should see this..."

Who talks like this? People with few original ideas of their own, and a great big thesaurus...

Very true. My Dad was an industrial pipe fitter with the same company for 41 years - the only place he ever worked. And my youngest brother is a welder now at the same company. Been there about 30 years I think. My Dad was known for his meticulous work and attention to detail. Other pipefitters could always tell if my Dad had worked on an installation, because it was always easy for the next fitter to disassemble the setting [Dad always swabbed the fittings with something called pipe dope in case adjustments were needed - and they often were]. In the first few years after my Dad retired, guys were always coming up to my brother the welder, telling him they knew our Dad had worked on this or that.

True enough. With a work ethic, there's no telling what they could do. But without one? Well, we know the answer to that, don't we? I'm guessing the "Where Are They Now?" story on the Duggar family, whenever it comes, is truly going to be heartbreaking.

I can see Ben being advised to wait for financial aid too. But even so, an aid package for Ben would almost certainly include a loan. Boob would not be happy about that, although I don't recall him grilling Ben about living a debt-free life the way Derick was. And of course, Ben doesn't have to use the loan if it is part of his package. I wonder if Boob would write him a check instead?

Agree fully - and it almost defies the laws of nature. Most people fight like dogs for their own offspring, often so intently that they're oblivious to any danger for themselves. Boob, Me-chelle & the Kellers [Mike, Suzette?] are so drunk on Gothard koolaid that they are completely incognizant - or outright ignoring - the needs of their own children and grandchildren. Beyond amazing to me...

I hope so too, but at the same time, I can't imagine her doing it. I can't imagine her even thinking about it. If she's thinking about it at all, it's how to conceal it from the kids - for as long as possible.

Talk about timing. I just found & added a quote to my journal today that I hope will be perfect for you, Julia - and believe it or not, it's from Dr Seuss: Don't cry because it's over, Smile - because it happened... Big virtual front-frontal hugs and squeezes headed your way. ❤️❤️

I'd include pre-teens, teens and 20-somethings, in addition to middle-aged and elderly women, based on the look of the lines that form at their book signings and other events. And on a lot of the comments I've seen on various social media. Although I'm not by any stretch a daily visitor to any social media, other than this forum. Does PTV count as social media?

I'm really not sure Ben realizes how under-educated Jessa is. Or ever will. I imagine he's going to be fairly-satisfied with her homeschooling plans, which will probably be the same as Me-chelle's were. Or she may decide to plunk her kids in the closest Christian school - who knows? It wouldn't surprise me at all if Jessa wanted no part of homeschooling going forward.