Nightingale

the majority of doctors will get the permission of the next of kin to pull the plug regardless of what a living will says. They're afraid of lawsuits, and if the person is not able to speak for themselves at that moment, they want to get the consent of someone who is able to take on that role. Ditto with organ donation. You can sign all the donor cards and papers you want. Most doctors still won't take your organs without next of kin consent.

I agree, although a pope stepping down is just not done. I think a new pope will be a good change for the church. It's sad that the current pope is dying, but a new pope may bring some policy changes.

Seems like the medic should've pumped the guy full of painkillers to ease his death. While I do see the soldier's motives, shooting an injured person like we would an injured animal was probably not the right course of action when there are medical interventions available. I understand why he did what he did and that he wanted to ease the man's suffering, but I disagree with the way he went about it.

Terri was NOT brain dead. Being in a "vegetative state" is not the same as brain death. She still had some lower brain functions, and sometimes, in certain cases, people with brain damage can improve. He tried everything he could and took her to many different doctors until there was nothing left to do and no hope for improvement. He tried everything that could be tried, and rehabilitation efforts for brain injuries can take time. When all efforts had been exhausted with little or no improvement, he began efforts to have the feeding tube removed. It's been tied up in court for almost a decade.

CNN says he's not dead yet, but probably very soon.

um... are you sure you're not watching this?

Ralph and Kakoo's. http://ralphkacoos.neworleansfanatic.com/ really good food. not overly expensive. recommended by locals when I was there. oh... and it's supposedly haunted.

well, sure, we all learn from our past and our mistakes, and grow and change. I'm not saying that nobody's made any wrong choices in the situation, just that the two people involved are not necessiarily "at fault", more that they're just not compatible.

Unless you're going into a very specific field, such as engineering or some sciences, here it isn't usually necessary to pick something you want a career in, because we have many "general education" requirements that go along with our degrees. I was a film major with a dance minor. I worked in the television industry for two years before deciding that film, for me, was much more rewarding as a hobby rather than a career. In college, I took: 3 history classes 1 political science class 4 English/Literature classes 1 Linguistics class 9 music classes 2 science classes 1 research and writing class 6 film/editing/directing classes 6 screenplay/writing for television classes 20 or so dance classes and several more I'm forgetting. So, regardless of what we major in, we end up with a pretty well rounded education. When we really specialize our education we typically do so working for a master's or doctorate. Most employers here don't care what your university degree is in, just that you have one, so people will pick something that interests them so they can enjoy school while they're there.

www.tigerstrike.com Good quality stuff, and cheaper than most other places. I've been going there for years.

Her voice gives me chills. She's amazing! http://www.alisonkrauss.com/

it hurts because, instead of just realizing that things didn't work out and it's not your fault and not his fault, in a break-up, we tend to see it as the other person rejecting ourselves, because when we fall in love, we make a deep emotional investment in the other person, which makes it very hard to see things clearly. It didn't work out. That's okay. Not your fault, not his fault. You're just two different people, and it's okay that you're not compatable. It's hard to see sometimes, but that's pretty much always the case. (((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))) Let me know if you need someone to talk to... trust me, I've been there.

I heard about this on the news today. It's so sad. A woman donated the fetus many years ago (probably from a miscarriage) so people could learn from it, and someone has shown a complete lack of respect for her wishes and for the scientific community by stealing it.

If she had stuck the photo on the cover of her notebook, it probably wouldn't be a big deal. There's a difference between a student personally carrying something around, and displaying it on a wall in a classroom. Teachers should have control over what is displayed in their classrooms, to some extent. The story is very incomplete with regards to why she brought the photo and what was to be done with it. Honestly, though, I think the teachers in my high school would have objected to the guy without his shirt on, rather than the weapons.

she's on the drunkdial list. call her and ask.

2 cats and 2 chinchillas. several fish. used to have 2 rats also, but they died.

I think I'd put Jim Henson on the list. Encouraging people to dream and imagine is probably one of the most important things someone can do. I'd venture to say that Kermit the Frog had some hand in shaping most of our childhoods. From Time Magazine: Jim Henson can be credited with many accomplishments: he had the most profound influence on children of any entertainer of his time; he adapted the ancient art of puppetry to the most modern of mediums, television, transforming both; he created a TV show that was one of the most popular on earth. But Henson's greatest achievement was broader than any of these. Through his work, he helped sustain the qualities of fancifulness, warmth and consideration that have been so threatened by our coarse, cynical age.

it's a good book, isn't it? explains things in a very easy to understand way.

Why Don't They Learn English? by Lucy Tse It's about bilingual education programs in the US. A fascinating read, and written in plain language without trying to talk over the heads of the readers.

actually, they probably do have a decent shot. As a grad student myself, I'm well aware of what would happen if every graduate research assistant quit. The department would cease to function. If these students can organize a strike, they've got a pretty good chance of getting their demands met, simply because the school really needs what they do. If the students refuse to work, and, like the article says, they're making $990 a semester (about 5 months) they're losing out on about $200 a month. They could make that up working at McDonalds for about the same number of hours. If the students seek other employment, the students lives turn out fine, but the professors and administration would not be. There'd be no TAs to help with research or grading. Things would fall apart. Research assistants and TAs are indespensible at the graduate level if the department has been set up in a way that relies on them. edited for typo

No info for the UK, but in the US, a male can be raped by a female, as defined by law (which varies from state to state). As it appears your bet didn't specify jurisdiction (unless you agreed it had to be UK), this should suffice. Here ya go: Mary K. Letourneau (female) pled guilty to the 2nd degree child rape of Vili Fualaau (male) Case Citation: 100 Wn. App. 424 Rev. Code Wash. (ARCW) § 9A.44.076 (2004) § 9A.44.076. Rape of a child in the second degree (1) A person is guilty of rape of a child in the second degree when the person has sexual intercourse with another who is at least twelve years old but less than fourteen years old and not married to the perpetrator and the perpetrator is at least thirty-six months older than the victim. (2) Rape of a child in the second degree is a class A felony.

When I was in high school, we studied various religions in world history class. When we were studying the area where Judaism sprung up, we studied the religion and culture of the region as well, including the Jewish creation myth, Ditto with India, China, the US, Hawaii, Greece and Rome, Egypt, etc... The Jewish/Christian creation myth was put right where it belonged...in the midst of other creation stories with exactly the same amount of proof. Creationism's basis is in religion and the history of the people, not in science. Students should be exposed to the Jewish/Christian creation myth, along with a good chunk of other creation myths in history or social studies class, as well as the theory of evolution (in science class), which should be presented in its appropriate scientific context: as a theory, not a fact, because theories and facts are two entirely different things, and one, by definition, cannot become the other. Intelligent design/creation science are not genuine scientific theories. They are an attempt to use scientific-sounding arguments to uphold a religious belief, the belief that the creation story told in the Bible is literally true. The scientific method starts with a question, like, "Why are some fossil animals so different from the animals around us today?" and finds the answer through observation and experiment. The creationist method starts with an answer, then looks for evidence that seems to fit. (http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/3117_evolution_creation_and_scien_12_7_2000.asp) If theories are being taught in science classes as facts, there is a serious problem with that science program, and I'd be lodging complaints with the district. Kids need to know the difference between a theory and a fact. Theories are not just fuzzy, uncertain ideas that are a step on the path towards becoming facts. A theory is not a fact, and a fact is not a theory. A fact is an observation, something that can be seen to be true or false with little or no interpretation. A theory is a conceptual framework that explains existing observations and predicts new ones. A key factor to keep in mind is that the term "theory" is used by scientists in a manner different from common usage. For most contexts, a theory is just a vague and fuzzy idea about how things work - in fact, one which has a low probability of being true. This is where we get the complaint that something in science is "only a theory" and hence shouldn't be given a great deal of credibility. For scientists, however, a theory is a conceptual structure which is used to explain existing facts and predict new ones. (about.com) If you only teach kids facts, and not how to interpret those facts (theories), they only get half of the scientific process. Evolution cannot be dismissed simply because it is a theory. Here is a list of common scientific theories: http://www.radix.net/~bobg/timeline/theories.html If all of these were removed from the curriculum, just because they were theories, there wouldn't be a science class, because there would be nothing to teach! Science is not just about observation (fact), it is about explanation (theories). Without learning theories, it is impossible to learn science.

A book about how alcohol affects the body would be perfectly appropriate. A book on college binge drinking and frat parties, maybe not. The subject matter of the gun book (history of firearms, pricing, collecting, and determining value) is fine. Now, if the book were titled "how to shoot up your school", that would probably not be appropriate. There is an age appropriate way to address virtually every subject from guns to drugs to sex. To use a different subject, when kids are really little and ask where babies come from, they're told that babies come from inside mommies, and the kids are usually ok with that info. When they get a little older, they ask how the baby gets inside the mommy, and they get the "when a mommy and daddy love each other very much..." explanation. When they're a little older, they start to learn about puberty and sex. When they're a teenager, they probably learn about safer sex and preventing pregnancy. There's an appropriate explanation for virtually anything at any age. If the child is old enough to ask the question, they're old enough for an answer.

Over the last day or so, I've gotten a few PMs and emails asking for the school's address so they can send a book. Dr. Michael T. Derczo, Principal 435 Lathrop Avenue Boonton, NJ 07005-2240 So far, the following books have been sent: Guns of the World The R.L. Wilson Official Price Guide to Gun Collecting Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury I know why the caged bird sings - Maya Angelou The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain Harry Potter Boxed Set (all 5 books) - JK Rowling I think it's really cool that people are doing this. All the books other than the gun guides and Fahrenheit 451 have come from the American Library Association's list of most frequently banned and challenged books. If anyone else wants to send a book, the lists are linked below. If you like, post here or drop me a PM so I can add your book to the "sent" list so they don't end up with multiple copies of the same book. http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm The American Library Association's list of the top 100 banned or challenged books http://title.forbiddenlibrary.com/ A more extensive list of banned books

seeing something that's wrong and doing what you can to make it right isn't heroic, it's human. It just took five minutes, a few mouse clicks, and a credit card. The police officers, the firefighters, the military, the people who put their lives on the line to help others are heros. I just mailed a book.