EricTheRed

The way I look at it is, folks will believe what the want to believe. Be it in a god, no god, who the god is and what the god does, if there is one at all. So I live my life (in respect to this topic) by my heart and believe how I want to believe, independantly of what other try to tell me. And the way I look at it is, we'll all find out the truth for sure when we die. I'll drink to that! illegible usually

Agreed. In fact, poor self esteem isn't nearly as bad as our PC society has made it out to be. If you feel good as a loser, chances are you will continue to be a loser. Feel bad about it and you'll likely work harder next time. I recall a study that examined the self esteem levels of CEO's and compared it to the self esteem of felons in jail and found that overall, the felons had higher self esteem. I'll post a link if I can find it. illegible usually

I actually agree with Rummy on this one. Many in the US have become too risk averse and just don't want to admit responsibility for their choices, this is just another example. The point I'm making here is that when you "go to war" people will die. Good people, bad people and people just sitting in their houses trying to stay out of the way. The biggest problem I have is the overall lack of balls to come out and say this up front. War is messy. It really does suck that our people have to die fighting against a bunch of religious fanatics that will likely take over the country again shortly after we get tired of dieing over there and go home. But, when you go to war, you go with what you've got. illegible usually

Maybe we could just take all the 6 year olds and toss 'em in a pit with dogs and let them fight for their food. The ones that are tough enough and smart enough to live get to come out, the rest just get eaten. It would work. Just depends on what kind of society you want. illegible usually

Dave, I do look at what I see locally and it does worry me. I have several school districts that I service and most are really hurting. They have had to cut back on school days, classes offered, equipment and maintenance, classified and non-classified staff, and have dramatically increased class sizes in many cases. Yes there are drop outs, drug users and gangs also. I have seen the same problems in schools in Oregon, Washington, Texas and North Carolina. I haven't any direct experiance with other states but I infer from the current national dialog that there are problems in the other states as well. The stats may be baised against us but it's pretty damn hard for me to imagine a test that could be biased in favor of Luxemberg that we shouldn't be able to do better on than Hong Kong. If we got our ass handed to us this thoroughly in the Olympics, there would be more outrage. this we just say - oh, it must be all those dumb kids in XXX that are skewing the sample. We weren't in the top 10 in a single category (we did however rank near the top in the percentage of students that scored lowest on these apptitude tests.) illegible usually

That would probably fit as well. Here's the rest of the rankings: Math - 24th Reading - 14th Science - 18th Problem solving - 25th Personally I'm embarrased that we have worse schools than Latvia. illegible usually

Korea Hong Kong-China Finland Japan New Zealand Macao-China Australia Liechtenstein Canada Belgium Switzerland Netherlands France Denmark Czech Republic Germany Sweden Austria Iceland Hungary Ireland Luxembourg Slovak Republic Norway Poland Latvia Spain Russian Federation Have in common? They all are better at educating their children in how to solve problems. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/15/47/34011082.xls illegible usually

There is a BIG difference in going to work with the flu and engaging in what is inarguably an intimate act. It wouldn't necessarily be limited to STD's. I've no problems with suing the jerk that has Hepatitis A and handles my food without washing his hands though. illegible usually

Beating a dead horse... From Gempler Alert (an Agricultural Industry newsletter). More proof that we really WANT illegal immigration, and don't care if employers use illegal labor. illegible usually

They ruled out Marrysville but Ridgefield is still on the list. They will just have to commute a bit south. (PS I like anything that goes that fast, even if it is just round and round and round. Add that to LOTS of beer and generally scantily clad women, what's not to like?) illegible usually

The bigger the belly the smaller the brain? http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=6889334 illegible usually

Just a note that those arguing on both sides here should go to www.kevinsites.net and read what the photographer who filmed this event has to say. illegible usually

Weird. I've owned three Tri's and no matter how I packed them, they always opened nice and slow. Flat pack included. illegible usually

Yes. Some of them play football (and other sports I'm sure) Four players off of "my" team (yes I am an OSU fan) were recently suspended for a racial incident. You might have seen this if you follow college football.\ http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/11/16/e1.sp.osususpends.1116.html What make this really sad is this guy was about to leave for Iraq, and on his last night in town with his wife, these guys give his wife shit for dancing with a white guy. illegible usually

I thought you had seen this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6507424/ Crazy in a totally different way. illegible usually

And I truely apreciate that. I do worry though that there are men who will exploit this willingness for causes that are not worth dying for. Too many have already died, and more will before this mess is done. Be careful out there. illegible usually

"Charging someone with murder here is like handing out speeding tickets at the Indianapolis 500..." Agreed. I think the longer we are in this country (Iraq) the more similarities we may see between this "war" and the "police action" that we participated in a while ago. The worst part of this ugly incident is that it will be used to recruit more "insurgents" and strengthen the resolve of those already fighting against the occupation of their homeland. There will be other incidents, far worse, committed by both sides before we decide to pack our bags and go home. illegible usually

That was ours www.skydivetoledo.com Unfortunately it isn't flying now but it is a really cool ride. It is for sale (used to be listed in the classifieds here) We have a turbine 207 now, cheaper to run, faster climb, but not nearly as much fun illegible usually

You betcha: Here's one of our locals. She may qualify for the Darwin Award. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1099486686212582.xml illegible usually

I agree. I used to live in the city where I had a problem with Raccoons. Couldn't shoot 'em with out breaking the law. Took up archery. No problem. Maybe this guy shouldv'e bought a good cross bow and set up a blind in his yard. The neighbors probably wouldn't have been able to fine him for that. (The game warden might have issues though) illegible usually

Because many parents don't teach these things at all. My parents are pretty good people (I love them both) and are both educated (no retired) professionals. What I learned about sex did not come from them. The first time my parents EVER talked to me about sex was about 5 minutes after my father inadvertanly walked in on me and a GF while she was "riding the pony". Believe it or not, many parents are really uncomfortable talking about things like (sex/drugs/diseases/etc.) Society does not function if schools do not teach. On picking on Texas. I did live there for about 4 years. I have great friends that still live there that I visit as often as possible. There are many things both good and bad about the state, and many things that are just too weird to truely understand. Overall I like Texas, but think they could tone down the idiot factor a bit. illegible usually

More from the big state: It's not ok to teach teenagers about birth control either. Guess they just wanted a few more unplanned pregnancies. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=6733240 DALLAS (Reuters) - Texas education officials on Friday approved health textbooks for high school students that extol the virtues of sexual abstinence but only make passing mention of contraceptives, which critics say violates state regulations and endangers the health of teens. The battle in Texas has national implications because the state is the second-biggest market for textbooks in the United States. Books approved by the state's school board are typically marketed nationally. The 15-member Texas Board of Education approved four books, all of which promote a birth control program based on abstinence. Three make no mention of contraceptives, while one makes passing references to condoms. State regulations require information on contraceptives to be included in the sexual education curriculum, but board members said the books meet state standards because contraceptives are mentioned in separate supplements or in the teacher's edition. Critics said the board bowed to social conservatives and their approval will leave Texas teens with inadequate information about their health. "Instead of doing the responsible thing and providing high school students with life-saving information about sex and health, the Board of Education has left them to fend for themselves and get information from each other and sources like the Internet and MTV," said Samantha Smoot, president of the Texas Freedom Network, which battles social conservatives. The texts are likely to appear in classrooms in August 2005 -- where they could be the standard text for about 10 years. The publishers of the books are Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Glencoe/McGraw Hill and Thomson Delmar Learning, which is owned by the Thomson Corp . Holt is owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV . Many current textbooks in Texas have more information on contraceptives than the ones the board approved. Surveys indicate a wide majority of U.S. parents support a strong abstinence message to teens in sex education. According to Centers for Disease Control figures, Texas has been among the top five states in the country for teenage pregnancies for several years. When he was governor of Texas, George W. Bush pushed for an abstinence-based sexual education curriculum. illegible usually

Or maybe this: http://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_10_29/en/ BTW Wars are a great wasy to spread disease as well. Many attribute much of the widespread prevalence of HIV in Africa to a combination of war and famine. Like it or not HIV will have a dramatic effect on the population of Africa. Those who use condoms will be much more likely to live, and less likely to reproduce. illegible usually

Preface: I didn't read every post in this thread but here's my take. While there is no way I think that BC should ever be mandatory, I do think it should be MUCH more widely available. The current trend is just the opposite thanks to the Extreme Evangelical Right. There are many barriers to getting relaible BC since this is seen as promoting promiscuity. IMO we should have free BC available to anyone that wants it. It should be a chioce, but the chioce should be there. No parental permission requirement, no co-pay if you can't afford it. This should be coupled with comprehensive education and awareness. Given this, the problem will subside without forcing anyone into it. Given the chioce, the vast majority of people will choose to delay and limit their reproduction of their own accord. BTW: this would also DRAMATICALLY reduce the demand for abortions, a good thing all around. illegible usually