Nightingale

Babies with anencephaly are still fetuses. "Anencephaly is a cephalic disorder that results from a neural tube defect that occurs when the cephalic (head) end of the neural tube fails to close, usually between the 23rd and 26th day of pregnancy, resulting in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp. Infants with this disorder are born without a forebrain - the largest part of the brain consisting mainly of the cerebrum - which is responsible for thinking and coordination. The remaining brain tissue is often exposed - not covered by bone or skin. Infants born with anencephaly are usually blind, deaf, unconscious, and unable to feel pain. Although some individuals with anencephaly may be born with a rudimentary brainstem, which controls autonomic and regulatory function, the lack of a functioning cerebrum permanently rules out the possibility of ever gaining consciousness. Reflex actions such as respiration (breathing) and responses to sound or touch may occur. The disorder is one of the most common disorders of the fetal central nervous system. Most of the foetuses who are affected by anencephaly die in the womb of the mother, during childbirth or in the next few hours after they have exited the mother's body." -wikipedia

I have watched a friend go through dialysis and his second kidney transplant. If there are any questions I can answer for you from what he's told me, I will, or I can see if he'd be willing to talk to you.

Keep the baby, unless it was anencephalic or something like that. There's no sense in carrying a child to term who will die very shortly after birth, but if it's a disease that will be an inconvenience, well... welcome to Holland, I guess.

I'm not an athiest, more of an agnostic, but I don't even read his attachments or his posts anymore. it's always the same stuff, over and over and over and over and over.

Dropping phonics was one of the main flaws in the implementation of whole language in the USA.

speak for yourself mr-volunteered-for-difficult-moderator-in-a-thankless-role-guy Moderators aren't elected.

I'm seeing more of the thought control from the republicans as well... the attempts to control what's on television and in print in the name of "decency". Right now, the republicans are the biggest threat, because they are in control with nobody there to stop them. The republicans control both the legislative and executive branches, and have gone overboard. I like what we have in california right now. A republican governor and democratic legislature. Only the really important stuff is getting done, and we're not getting mired in stupid taxes or social controls. I'll be voting for arnold this time, even though I don't like him, because I like the balance.

I see the republicans as a bigger threat, because of their desire to curtail personal liberty in the name of safety. I don't see this behavior from democrats.

I blame your childhood teachers for instilling this attitude in you. I used to be a teacher, and I was shocked to learn how little control teachers actually have about what goes on in their classrooms, and how little control principals actually have about what goes on in their schools.

Of course that's not known. But, I do believe that the lawyer HAD to have some feelers out. It's not like the English parents picked up the yellow pages and picked his name out within a couple of days of the incident. I can therefore safely assume some affirmative conduct on part of the attorneys... Well, they could've just used google. Unless they tell us, we really don't have a way to know.

whole language was mandated by the state board of education (politicians). Most educators didn't like it much, and still don't like it. Whole language is a good idea. The way the US implemented it was fundamentally flawed, though. Getting rid of reading primers is a good thing. Whole language replaces primers of nonsense with storybooks that make sense. However, kids don't just spontaneously read. What educators were supposed to do is to teach phonics, grammar, and sentence structure in the context of actual books. They skipped the entire last part, and pretty much just handed out the books and expected kids to start reading them. Whole language can be an excellent teaching method, if implemented properly, and has been used successfully throughout the world. There's not only one "right" way to teach. It really, really irritates me when people jump to blame educators for flawed learning programs. These programs have been adopted by state politicians and educators are not given any choice at all about whether or not to use them. The politicians want to look like they're doing something so they can get re-elected, and they want to say "I implemented this new program to help our kids!" This happens so often that things get changed around before we have a chance to really see the results of the last system that they forced on the teachers, and before they had a chance to implement any improvements to the former system. Schools are given new system after new system, and not given any time to work the bugs out of the last new system before they get another one, just as full of flaws. Teachers don't have much of a choice in what and how they teach anymore, especially in larger districts. It's one of the reasons I got out of the business. Educators are given all the blame for things they don't have a choice about, and politicians get the praise when they hand down yet another poorly researched, poorly implemented system that isn't going to work any better than the last one,

See, now to me, THIS is what's truly upsetting. LOL! I don't have cable/sattelite, and can't pick up a damn thing on the TV with an antenna, so I've never watched AI.

How do you know it wasn't the parents who contacted the lawyer?

D'oh. I missed the one about the american idol winner. Who was it again?

I would imagine that's why doctors advise removing the jewelry while nursing.

Sigh. That's just stupid. Are they going to ban pointy sticks next?

They already do.

You're also required to show a state-issued photo ID (driver's license or passport) in addition to a social security card. It'd be easy enough to gradually phase in a thumbprint on a driver's license over the next decade or so. There are automatic computer services that let you plug in a social security number, name, and birth date to see if they all match. We used to use one when I was a leasing agent to make sure that our renters had valid ID. No reason why an employer couldn't use a similar system to catch forged IDs. (edit: It's very easy to create a physical fake ID. It's a lot more difficult to put that ID info into a government system so the ID would check out as legit... you may fool a bartender with your fake ID, but give employers access to this system, and you probably won't fool them.)

Darius certainly has strong opinions, but I don't think he's an extremist.

In most cases, no, but sometimes. Doesn't usually make a difference, though, from what I've read.

I'm a libertarian. My mom's family is all democrat. My dad's is all republican. My mom's family think's I'm too far right. My dad's family thinks I'm too far left. They all think I'm a bit nuts for not picking one of the two major parties. Libertarians are extremist about a couple of things: 1. Personal freedom. If it's not hurting anyone else, butt out, whether it's good for the person doing it or not. 2. Personal responsibility. It's your job to make the right choices for you. It's not my job to do it for you, even though I may strongly disagree. 3. Minimal government. The government exists to ensure the safety of its citizens and resources, and should serve no other purpose.

An immigrant ID would be required to work. Employers would be required to check them, and have copies of them for their own records. They'd function in the same way social security cards do for citizens, except they should probably include a photo and fingerprint.

No, you don't need one, but it's a good idea to have a passport when travelling abroad, even to a US territory, just in case you decide to spend a day somewhere else.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. Many immigrants pool housing and transportation resources. There's no reason why that trend won't continue. After removing the minimum wage, we give business owners six months, and then start fining heavily for hiring undocumented workers. There's no reason to hire them anymore, because now, legal people can do the work. At that time, we give business owners the option of, if they haven't received enough qualified legal applicants, to go to another country and recruit. At that time, they can conduct interviews across the border, and anyone they wish to bring back with them must be fingerprinted and issued a government ID. Then, they may remain here as long as they are in the employ of that individual. They should have immediate access to citizenship procedures if desired. If they choose not to become a citizen, they are subject to deportation when they become unemployed.

He wouldn't drop his prices now, because farms are already existing on under the table labor. Prices just wouldn't go up, and more legal workers could be hired, because you've eliminated the need for under the table. If they started paying the workers minimum wage, we'd be paying $20 a BASKET for strawberries, where we're now paying about $20 a flat (6 or 8 baskets)