Nightingale

Little Martin Guitar Anyone else ever played with one of these? I was surprised to find that it sounds better than my Ovation, which cost about 3 times as much. Martin makes damn good guitars.

Were they banned? Unfortunately not. He's off trolling in the "Not a Christian" thread.

This explains how sickle cell trait makes people who carry it more likely to survive malaria. "[Sometimes] mutations [can] give the recepient an advantage over other people. Sometimes the advantage improves the ability to survive a potentially deadly illness. The affected individual can then pass his/her genes to the next generation more efficiently than other people because they are more likely to reach reproductive age. This increases the chance that the modified gene will survive into the first generation (that of the children) and from there move into the following generation (that of the grandchildren). This is a "positive" mutation...A common misconception is that natural selection somehow produces a desirable change: "giraffes grew long necks in order to reach leaves high in trees." This is not the way in which natural selection works, however. Natural selection does not promote or produce a change in an organism. Rather, a change occurs because of spontaneous alterations or mutations in the DNA genetic code. Changes in the genetic code can alter the physical characteristics of the organism. If the new trait gives the organism a survival or reproductive advantage over its fellows, the new trait will be represented in the second generation more frequently than it was in the first generation. This is the natural process by which advantageous characteristics are selected...Sickle hemoglobin provides the best example of a change in the hemoglobin molecule that impairs malaria growth and development. The initial hints of a relationship between the two came with the realization that the geographical distribution of the gene for hemoglobin S and the distribution of malaria in Africa virtually overlap. A further hint came with the observation that peoples indigenous to the highland regions of the continent did not display the high expression of the sickle hemoglobin gene like their lowland neighbors in the malaria belts. Malaria does not occur in the cooler, drier climates of the highlands in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Neither does the gene for sickle hemoglobin... People with sickle cell trait possess one gene for normal hemoglobin and one gene for sickle hemoglobin. These children are more likely to survive their initial acute malarial attacks than are people with two genes for normal hemoglobin. Also, they suffer none of the morbidity and mortality of sickle cell disease. Therefore, the people with sickle cell trait are more likely to reach reproductive age and pass their genes on to the next generation. Red cells from people with sickle trait do not sickle to any significant degree at normal venous oxygen tension. Very low oxygen tensions will cause the cells to sickle, however. For example, extreme exercise at high altitude increases the number of sickled erythrocytes in venous blood samples from people with sickle cell trait. Sickle trait red cells infected with the [malaria] parasite deform, presumably because the parasite reduces the oxygen tension within the erythrocytes to very low levels as it carries out its metabolism. Deformation of sickle trait erythrocytes would mark these cells as abnormal and target them for destruction by [the immune system]. Since sickle cells are removed from the circulation and destroyed in the reticuloendothelial system, selective sickling of infected sickle trait red cells would reduce the parasite burden in people with sickle trait. These people would be more likely to survive acute malarial infections." http://sickle.bwh.harvard.edu/malaria_sickle.html

What about polydactyly? In humans and animals, the mutation/addition of the polydactyl gene adds extra fingers and toes, which could be argued, adds additional function. How well could a human, for example, play piano or guitar with an extra finger on each hand? Polydactyl cats have additional front toes and claws, adding additional ability to defend themselves. The trait is dominant in cats (although there is also a recessive form that causes hip problems in addition to extra toes, but this is not the same gene). The trait is recessive in humans and linked to a type of dwarfism, but as humans with the trait typically grow between 4-5 feet, this isn't much of a handicap, and imagine what you could do with a couple of extra fingers.

Have you seen BodyWorlds? There's nothing pornographic or voyeuristic about it. I'm guessing by your statements you haven't seen it and are just repeating what you've heard from others who haven't seen it. Like I said to the other poster... go see it. You might learn something, and at the very least, you'll know what you're talking about. Seeing individual photos can be very misleading. When the exhibit is taken as a whole, it's extremely obvious that it is intended to both educate and demonstrate the beauty and complexity that is the human body. Most people leave the exhibit with a renewed interest in the biology of the human body, as well as a sense of awe at the way everything comes together to make us work.

Yes, that's wrong. A section of code can have extra pieces just as easily as it can have missing pieces. Edited to add one of many citations: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=iga.section.4127

Even if she can walk on it, she should have it x-rayed. Often, sprains hurt more than breaks. I walked on a broken bone in my foot for three days before I got myself to the doctor.

Don't self-diagnose. Please. There are so many different things that can go wrong with a foot/ankle. You might need an ace wrap. You might need crutches. You might need a solid cast. Maybe an air cast. Maybe surgery. Maybe anti-inflammatory medication. Get someone who knows what they're looking at to diagnose you. Believe me, if it can be sprained/strained/torn/broken I've probably done it, and it can be really hard to tell the difference, especially without x-rays. Just get it checked by a doctor, because if you guess and guess wrong, you're setting yourself up for a lot more pain.

Because just because they can't locate a next-of-kin doesn't mean there isn't one. Many of the BodyWorlds bodies could be identified if you knew the person. They didn't always remove all the skin, so sometimes you could tell what the person looked like. Culturally, our bodies are something personal and precious, and if someone (or their family) doesn't consent to being put on display, then they shouldn't be put on display.

As far as I can tell, in the new testament, Jesus created a new covenant with those that would be his followers, giving them new rules to follow, and freeing them from the old behavioral restrictions under Jewish law, such as not eating shellfish. So, even if the old testament condemned homosexuality (and there's quite a bit of evidence that it does not, given better translations and understanding of the ancient languages), the new testament doesn't really mention homosexuality, aside from cautioning people against orgies outside of committed relationships (Romans 1:26), child molestation (1 Corinthians 6:9, Timothy 1:9), and bestiality (Jude 7).

I've heard of Bodies: the Exhibition, but I've heard BodyWorlds is much better, and doesn't have the ethical issues. There are legal ways for science to obtain bodies without the consent of the donor, for example, someone who dies with no next-of-kin to claim the body. Bodies like that are usually made available to medical schools, etc... However, I don't think that bodies should be used for public display without permission of the donor, or at least, the family. If the donor or family desires to be a part of the public's scientific education, great! But if they haven't made that choice, the body should go to a medical school or other scientific research that is not in the public eye.

With regards to BodyWorlds: No, the exhibit does not smell. No, it isn't disrespectful. The bodies were donated to the institute specifically for the purpose of plastination and educating the public. There is a huge demand for plastinated human specimens from medical schools and science classes, and the exhibit makes people aware that this kind of donation is possible. The exhibit is set up in a way to not only educate the public about human anatomy, but to demonstrate that the human body is also an amazing work of art. Visitors to the exhibit were very aware that they were looking at real people, and approached the exhibit with a reverent state of mind. I didn't see a single person disrespecting any of the bodies in the exhibit. When I went to the exhibit, I learned an incredible amount of information about the human body and how it works. My brother learned what smoking does to a human lung. He quit. Before you judge the exhibit, go see it. You might learn something, and, at the very least, you'll be able to discuss it from a knowledgable standpoint.

Although those numbers are technically not impossible. You would have to go extremely far back on your family tree to come up with them. I will give you some mathematical credit because you made the sum equal 1. But its clear you were trying to go back 4 generations which should be measured in 16th's. In order to get down to the 1/12, you would need to and track so many people that its laughable. I was adopted, and that's what's in the information that the agency gave me. According to that info (where they tell you as much about your ancestry as the family wants you to know), my biological grandmother was a major geneology buff and had records going back over 600 years. I copied the info straight off the paper into my post.

Oh my name it is nothin' My age it means less The country I come from Is called the Midwest I's taught and brought up there The laws to abide And that land that I live in Has God on its side. Oh the history books tell it They tell it so well The cavalries charged The Indians fell The cavalries charged The Indians died Oh the country was young With God on its side. Oh the Spanish-American War had its day And the Civil War too Was soon laid away And the names of the heroes I's made to memorize With guns in their hands And God on their side. Oh the First World War, boys It closed out its fate The reason for fighting I never got straight But I learned to accept it Accept it with pride For you don't count the dead When God's on your side. But now we got weapons Of the chemical dust If fire them we're forced to Then fire them we must One push of the button And a shot the world wide And you never ask questions When God's on your side. So now as I'm leavin' I'm weary as Hell The confusion I'm feelin' Ain't no tongue can tell The words fill my head And fall to the floor If God's on our side He'll stop the next war. Bob Dylan

If I had kids and they were being taught ID in science class, I can't imagine many things that would get me to pull them out of that school faster.

I get pictures of birds and 19th century nurses.

Genetically: I'm 5/12 Irish, 3/12 scottish, 1/12 german and 3/12 dutch Family: On my dad's side, the family is mostly irish, except for an austrian way back that gave us the last name. On my mom's side, they're about half Irish and half scottish with a bit of cherokee thrown in. The family immigrated to Ireland from Scotland, and then from Ireland to the US, right about when everyone else was leaving Ireland, and settled in New York. Then, they moved from New York to Alabama, and my great grandparents ended up heading to California on the run from the law.

Really?? I had no idea! I'll definitely check into that! I'm getting the Rx for the dogs faxed over today from the boys' neurologist.

That couldn't possibly have been said by someone who lacks a penis. Whose did you steal?!! Blues, Dave LOL! That's all me. About six years ago, I was in a relationship with someone who had a major communication problem. He was my roommate, and I was doing little things that irritated him, and he never told me until he totally blew up at me over something trivial (example: where I stacked the newspapers and the location of the cat's dish). I couldn't do anything to fix the situation until I knew it was bugging him, and I wouldn't find out it was bugging him until he was shouting at me for whatever it was months after I'd started doing it. Of course, then the problem would get fixed, but it took a huge, explosive fight to do it when two sentences three months before would've had the same result without all the shouting and hurt feelings. That really, really irritated me, and I promised myself that I would never expect someone I dated to have psychic powers and read my mind about whatever's bugging me. Until I talk about it and make it our problem, it remains my problem to deal with, and it's unfair to get angry until the other person has the opportunity to have input and help with the solution. I don't always succeed with this philosophy (Hey, I'm human!), but it's worked really well in helping prevent ongoing issues.

Have you talked with your doctor about how down you've been feeling lately? Feeling down for a day or two can be normal, but it sounds like it's been going on for a long time, and maybe whatever is causing you to feel sad is a little bigger than you can handle all on your own right now. It's totally okay to need a little intervention, whether it's something that can be helped by just talking to someone who has a neutral perspective, or if it's a chemical imbalance that might need some medical intervention. Depression is something that can happen at any point in your life, and it's okay to ask for outside help if you need it, and even if you don't think you need it, it probably won't hurt. Edit: this was addressed to whoever wrote the blog, not the poster. It wasn't clear that they weren't the same person.

If things are going good from her point of view, then things are probably bad from the communication standpoint. Sounds like you're not communicating to her about whatever is bothering you, or she would know about the issues and wouldn't be thinking things are okay. When I'm in a relationship, I try (don't always succeed, but try) to keep this philosophy about communication: When I feel something is wrong in a relationship, it's MY problem, to be dealt with by ME. It remains MY problem until I share it with my partner. Then it becomes OUR problem to solve together. I do not have the right to expect the person I'm with to read my mind and figure out what is wrong. I have to tell them before I can expect any kind of action about the issue from them, and it's unreasonable for me to be angry about it until I've made them aware that there is a problem and given them an opportunity to help me solve it.

Send me the website link when you get it. I'll post it on my website.

Atmosphere and attitude. If I can't find anyone to jump with, I'm not going to want to hang out there, no matter how great the facilities.

I'd suggest financing a new macBook. Intel based processor, so you can run both MacOS and Windows, comes with pretty much all the mac software you'd need, very reliable, great tech support, and, if you buy AppleCare, a 3 year pretty much anything goes (including spilling grape jelly in your keyboard) warranty. $26 a month if you finance it. $1099 if you buy it outright, or $1049 if you're a student.

There's a pic on my bears website of a monkey in a rig. Not in the air, but feel free to use the pic if you need to.