Nightingale

My shotgun was about $300. However, steel doors aren't an option in my apartment complex, so a shotgun loaded with stuff that will go through a human but not the wall is probably my best option.

My aunt and uncle got married at the Excalibur. If you didn't know you were in vegas, you'd never guess. http://www.excalibur.com/weddings/packages.php The chapel at Paris Las Vegas is also pretty. http://www.caesars.com/Paris/LasVegas/Weddings/WeddingChapels/ChapelleduParadis.htm Caesars has a really pretty garden courtyard setting too. http://www.caesars.com/Caesars/LasVegas/Hotel/WeddingServices/ChapelsGardens.htm Hope that helps.

It isn't always the woman who doesn't know who the father is. Sometimes, it's the man who is claiming not to be the father, and a DNA test is required to prove that he is. If you're going to have sex, you have to be responsible for the results and need to contribute to the child's care financially, and hopefully emotionally as well. This goes for BOTH parents.

Birth control has been around for centuries. So has abortion. I'm sure there has been a rise in abortions since it was legalized, but we really couldn't keep statistics before it was legalized, since they were either done crudely by someone who wasn't a doctor, or by a doctor disguising it as a D&C. Aside from that, it's also pretty well known that certain medicines and herbs can cause abortions, so those wouldn't be tracked either. Interesting to note that there has been a 43% decline in abortions from 1994 to 2000, while the number of women of reproductive age has increased. Researchers feel that this is from increased education and access to birth control, not from people having less sex. Source: about.com As for "convenience", I guess it depends on what you think "convenient" means. Black women are more than 3 times as likely to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are 2.5 times as likely. A woman who is black or hispanic is also much more likely to be considered "poor" than a white woman of the same age. In 2000, 57% of abortions were performed on women at or below the poverty line. Source: CDC I wonder if those women are really thinking "gosh, it wouldn't be convenient for me to have a kid. I'm going to go get an abortion". Somehow, I doubt it. They're probably thinking about the impossibility of affording prenatal care, hospital and doctor bills, time off work, and providing for their other kids, if they have any. That's not so much convenience as it is survival. For some women, taking enough time off work to have a baby, whether they keep the child or not, can mean not being able to pay the rent or buy food, because if they're paid by the hour, they don't always get paid time off.

Nothing "easily leads to abortion." Abortion is an agonizing decision regardless of the circumstances. Many women, even after a rape, agonize over whether abortion is the right choice. Some might think that circumstance would make it easy. It doesn't. Abortion and birth control, to most people, are entirely different things. Most people see birth control as preventing pregnancy in the first place. At that point in time, there is no baby to think about. If sperm and egg don't meet, there is no baby. Abortion is ending a pregnancy, and regardless of when people believe life begins, a pregnancy has the potential to create a separate, living human being. Terminating a pregnancy is a damn hard decision. The vast majority of people don't see it as an "easy way out" at all.

the school I was at acted like birth control didn't exist. A lot of the girls in my class had been told "don't have sex til you're married" by their parents, and that was their only info about sex from an adult. It's far more common than it should be. Information helps people make mature choices. What I meant was that they could teach "birth control pills are hormone pills that, when taken every day, prevent ovulation and implantation. The church is against these because they can prevent an embryo from implanting, and the church believes a baby is created when sperm and egg meet." Give the info, and then the explanation. Just saying "birth control is bad" with no explanation as to how it works or why its bad doesn't make any sense. Regardless of what they're told by parents or church, some kids are going to have sex. period. It's been that way since people started having sex, people have tried many things to stop it, but kids do it anyway and some always will, and parents and schools and churches need to not only address the ideal, but address the practical as well. When birth control fails, abortion is not always the next step. Many people use condoms or whatever, but would carry a child if they got pregnant. They use birth control because they don't want a kid right now, but if it happened, they would deal with it. This is probably the majority of people who use b/c, and the minority would look to abortion.

I don't think programs like that will make a bit of difference. Kids aren't going to rat out their friends. They will, however, rat out kids they don't like, most times regardless of whether they get rewarded or not, just for the thrill of watching someone they don't like get into trouble. At my high school, if someone had brought a gun or drugs and was flashing them around, you bet someone would've snitched. If they weren't flashing them around, nobody would know except close friends, who wouldn't rat, reward or not. If a reward was offered, I don't think many kids would take it, because it would make their ratting public knowledge, which is the last thing a kid wants.

It's very true that many Catholics don't talk about things that can become issues. I went to a Catholic high school for my freshman year. I left after that year, but still had some friends who kept me up on the gossip. Out of a freshman class of about 70 or so, by the end of senior year, four girls were pregnant. I know the circumstances of two... one claims she didn't use any kind of birth control because "condoms and pills are sins!" um... and premarital sex isn't? the other thought she only had to take her birth control pills on the days she had sex, rather than every day. I wonder if these pregnancies, especially the second one, could have been avoided if the school had a sex-ed program other than "abstinance only." and actually taught the girls how birth control works, or if her mother or father had talked to her about it. The parents or school could have even taken the opportunity to explain why the catholic church doesn't agree with birth control when discussing the various methods and how they work, but that second girl wouldn't have been clueless. Regardless of what you teach kids, some of them are going to have sex before they get married, so it makes sense to address the issues rather than pretending they don't exist.

Regardless of the penalty (stiff or not), the vast majority will not commit a crime in front of a police officer. I don't care if the fine is $20 or $2000, if there's a cop there, I'm not speeding. If there's a cop driving around near a convenience store, the store probably won't be held up. People committing crimes don't want to get caught, so they commit the crime when they think they won't be caught. Fewer opportunities would therefore equal fewer crimes. Get the officers on the street to enforce the laws we do have, rather than making new ones.

By "prevention", I was referring to things like education, after school programs, and more police officers, not more stupid laws that probably won't be enforced anyway. Prevention has more to do with addressing the culture of crime and discouraging it with the presence of police. Take a simple example. Speeding. We all do it. However, if we see a cop, we slow down. Speeding, therefore, can't be stopped by more laws, since there are already laws addressing it. Speeding can be reduced by more cops and more education regarding how vehicles handle at high speeds and increased breaking distance, etc...

Probably that we need good crime prevention methods as well as a good criminal justice system. I think most would agree that it's far better to prevent a crime in the first place than punishing it after the fact. However, we do need to acknowledge that some crime will happen regardless of any preventions and deterrants, and we need to be equipped to deal with it.

Wouldn't have cosmetic surgery simply for the sake of changing my natural appearance. Would have reconstructive surgery in case of an injury/accident/burn etc ... .

as long as you have a proper balance of nutrients, it shouldn't matter much whether the nutrients are from plant or animal. I have a friend who gives her cat vegan food, and the cat seems fine. Healthy, frisky, and active. Acts like a normal cat. I think it's a little weird to spend that much money on cat food (that vegan stuff is pricey!), but the cat seems happy enough.

I have nothing to hide, and if my friends or SO asked me if they could read my mail, I'd probably let them. However, if they did it without asking me, it would imply that they thought that I did have something to hide, that I wasn't being straight with them, and that lack of trust would make me very angry.

How the heck are they getting the names and addresses of the soldiers and their families??? That is a really sick thing to do, and I hope they're caught and prosecuted.

I've been eyeing the glock 17 or glock 19 myself. I really liked them when I borrowed them at the range.

in unisex bathrooms, nobody watches anybody. all toilets and urinals are in separate stalls.

hehe... you can't borrow it, but if you're ever in southern california, we can take it out to the range.

well, mine's a 20 gauge, not a 12, but it still makes that wonderful shotgun sound. I tried the 12 gauge and found it a bit too awkward, but the 20 just seemed to fit me better.

Just picked it up today. Winchester Defender 1300 20 gauge shotgun. edited to attach picture

UC Berkeley has co-ed bathrooms. The doors on stalls extend to the floor, and are taller than usual, for privacy. ditto with shower areas. When I visited there, it was perfectly comfortable, and I really don't see why other public restrooms shouldn't be like that, provided they have the taller walls and doors for privacy.

It's not as much nationalism as it is understanding. For example, Catholics from south/central America tend to approach religion differently than someone from the northern US, Ireland, Poland or Germany. Each culture has its own spin on religion, and the more points of view the church gets, the more competent it will be to see to the spirituality of all its members.

" I have it on authority of a Roman canonist who has been involved that even to this day, technically, female altar servers are not permitted by the Code of Canon Law. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has clearly shown its preference for the traditional male altar servers and also made it clear that no priest can be required to have female altar servers. " -Ignatius Press The Holy See respects the decision adopted by certain Bishops for specific local reasons on the basis of the provisions of Canon 230 2. At the same time, however, the Holy See wishes to recall that it will always be very appropriate to follow the noble tradition of having boys serve at the altar. As is well known, this has led to a reassuring development of priestly vocations. Thus the obligation to support such groups of altar boys will always continue. -Cardinal Antonio Maria Javierre Ortas, 1995 (Prefect , Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship)

Females can be altar servers here in the US, but in many other countries they can't. The pope spoke out against it, but didn't make a formal decree on the subject, so churches were free to have them or not, even though the pope didn't want females on the altar. Ditto with eucharistic ministers.

I'm not saying that italians should have been disqualified, just that I'm glad that the cardinals felt that the best man for the job wasn't italian, because it reinforces the breaking of the italian monopoly over the papacy and will, in the future, allow for more global representation.