jshatzkin

This is a very sudden notice. Does anyone know what happened? Last I heard, recovery was going well. BSBD Jen

But with such an idiotic grammatical error on his home page "NOBODIES PRESIDENT BUT YOURS!"; he has the credentials of being president! Jen

Just my personal opinion here: I have a natural diamond ring. A pretty high quality one at that. Clarity, color- everything. It has a minor imperfection that can be seen in the right light with a magnifying glass. I love it! I know that it took thousands of years to develop, and the imperfection makes it very unique. If there were a thousand diamonds, I could sort through them and find mine. To me, that is also what makes natural diamonds so attractive. I would much rather that than a "perfect" lab-made,..fast food, factory style diamond that took a mere fraction of time to make. Same thing with my sapphire ring. Many sapphires out there are beautiful, "perfect" and made in a lab. Mine is a natural and has an imperfection that can be seen with the naked eye. Again, I would not trade it for the most "perfect" lab made rock out there. It is unique and tells a story. Jen

There is something about a pretty ring making your hand and fingers look pretty too! It feels good to be girly sometimes I think you're right. There are scams and marketing issues with everything (especially luxury items). And in a capitalistic society, there is always the underclass that slaves for near nothing to make big money for "cartels" (coporate giants or whatever you want to call them). Jen

I admit,.. I am a spoiled wife. Spoiled with love from my husband. Just for the record, he is a very spoiled husband too! It has to be mutual. I have a beautiful platinum diamond engagement ring (with matching platinum wedding band), platinum natural sapphire ring AND my rig. My whole point though, is that all of that is just material stuff. My husband really spoils me when he supports my passions and my dreams. When he draws me little cartoons every morning. When he is affectionate all the time. These are the things that are important. If you don't have these things in a relationship, than no diamond ring or no rig will make up for it. Jen

This past year, my husband was asking what I wanted for my 30th birthday. He asked if I wanted jewelry (diamond earrings or "something"). Instead,..he got me a nice new rig. No jewelry in the world would beat a brand new rig in saying "I love you". Maybe we should start our own anniversary, engagement or Valentine commercials for skydivers. "Only 3 months salary will buy him/her the rig of their dreams! There is no other way to say 'I love you' in the skydiving world!" Jen

My husband proposed to me, in a very romantic setting, on Valentine's day with a candy heart that said "marry me". I replied with a candy heart that said "I do". I encased both of the hearts and the sweet card he made for me. He later bought me a pretty diamond ring and for our anniversary, a pretty sapphire. The only rings I have ever owned. But I still adore the candy heart, and its meaning much more. I agree, marketing has a lot to do with people thinking that it's needed for love. It's not. I would happily give up both rings right now for him to sleep by my side just tonight (he is in Iraq). I have a friend who had a very expensive wedding, with a $5000 dress and $12000 ring,..only for the marriage to crumble in less than two years. Some people put more emphasis on the symbols, and the wedding than they do on the marriage. it's a shame. Jen

It's about the meaning behind the rock on the finger. Not the rock itself! (At least for me

That's hilarious! I was being facetious about the badges anyway Jen

I find this so entertaining. I am not trying to have a 20 page argument. This reminds me of a funny link in the Bonfire awhile back that classified typical forum posters. There was the one who only wanted to argue their side,...posting a myriad of "resources", data and links. The truth is, no matter what side you are on or the argument, you can find "data" to support you. It does not make your claim the only valid one. A good argument means that we can all take something new from the debate and enhance our learning of that topic. Having the social and psychological sciences as part of my education, the quote from that website sums up many many scholarly articles and resources regarding intelligence. One thing is certain,..in the field of psychology..it is well known that education and IQ should not be construed as the same. Look it up anywhere. Look in any psychology 101 textbook. I was simply summarzing 180 college credits worth of research and data Also, when determining trends in the social atmosphere, 2 methodologies are used in good, solid research. Quantitative: your numbers and statistics (which can be collected and bent toward your hypothisis-any statistics 101 course will teach that) And Qualitative: which is gathering indiviual "stories", such as mine, and determining commonalities. When we use the term "smart", I think it can apply to anyone. I believe everyone is "smart" in something and contributes to the greater society with their uniqueness. If we were all smart only in one area, we would not grow as a society. like I said before, I have met many smart people. Some educated and some not. Each person who comes into my life has a unique smart ability and I can learn from them. One person may be smart in mathmatics, and another in computers and another in language. We all have our individual "smartness" to contribute. We all are doing that now in this debate. Jen

Isn't 3.80+ Suma Cum Loudly? It is here, Magna is 3.60-3.79. My mistake. I guess I was Summa....doesn't really matter in light of this post Guess I am not "intellectual" for not remembering which honors I received. QuoteI bet if you IQ tested with your friends at 2 years in the service/college you would have been smoked. Now you would smoke themQuote Here is where your logic is completely off. You are trying to argue using IQ and education the same. Quoted from How Stuff Works (because it represents what I am trying to say in a more concise manner) "IQ tests measure your ability to understand ideas and not the quantity of your knowledge. Learning new information does not automatically increase your IQ. Education does not automatically increase your IQ either. adult IQ scores don't significantly increase over time. There is evidence that maintaining an intellectually stimulating atmosphere (by learning new skills or solving puzzles, for example) boosts some cognitive ability, similar to the way maintaining an exercise regimen boosts physical ability, but these changes aren't permanent and do not have much effect on IQ scores. So your IQ score is relatively stable, no matter what education you acquire. This does not mean that you can't increase your intelligence. IQ tests are only one imperfect method of measuring certain aspects of intellectual ability. A lot of critics point out that IQ tests don't measure creativity, social skills, wisdom, acquired abilities or a host of other things we consider to be aspects of intelligence" (my emphasis in bold) And I agree with matthewcline. i don't think I am an anomoly, exceptional, or unique in my experience. I have found similar experiences in other people who had military service. Jen

Disclaimer: I scanned, but didn't read all the posts. I am only speaking for the Army: Having said that: Even people with GED's have to be on a "waiting list" to enlist. There are only so many slots for them. The "go to Army or go to jail" is old and no longer exists. If you have any criminal record, (including DUI, assault etc),..you have to get a waiver. In some cases you can't even get waived. It is true that many people use the military as an avenue to help with education. Perhaps lower enlisted, younger folks don't have the same education initially as their counterparts, they tend to gather more education along the way. I just read a statistic (I can't remember where) that over 70% of enlisted folks receive bachelor degrees within a few years of discharge. So a higher percentage of people who have served, are more educated in the long run. Plus they have a wonderful life experience. Compare that to the number of college freshman or sophmores who drop out of college. I enlisted at 18, with no college. My high school peers all went off to college while I was in the Army. I took college courses while I was in. I got out at 22, and by the time I was 26, I had obtained my bachelor AND master degrees. Not to mention that I graduated Magna Cum Laude (3.89 GPA) for my undergraduate and a 3.95 GPA for my graduate degree. All my friends who went to college first, only had bachelor degrees (and not as high GPA's) and not the same wonderful experiences I had. The good thing is that the Army college fund and GI bill paid for both degrees. Now I am making great money and have no college debt. Unlike my high school peers who have only bachelor degrees and thousands of dollars worth of debt (which is common). My younger brother went straight to college. He was very smart and had 2 scholarships for engineering. What he lacked was maturity and responsibility. He made it only 1 1/2 years before he dropped out. He is 24 now, and still has not gone back to school (or joined the military). So he was essentially more "educated" then I was at age 20,...but in the long run...... I learned so much from the military, and would not trade that experience for anything! I think I had more intellect by choosing to enlist and use the experience to mature and be responsible while earning money to put myself through college. (Just like anything in life) You get out of the military what you put into it. Jen

Aaaaw! That is so sweet. He's a cutie too! One thing though: He looks a little young to be in the Navy Jen

I'm a licensed psychotherapist. Recently changed jobs and am a family social program evaluator/researcher and developer for the department of air force. Jen

My husband has so many badges as an officer (can't even fit them all on the ACU), everyone asks him if he is prior enlisted (which he is not) Jen

A "real" skydiver would sell the Dodge and get a bike while eating Ramen noodles Jen

I would say that having AIDS and being mentally unstable, using violence is NOT the same thing. I would also like to add that being a psychotherapist, I have had a few cases of women with severe personality disorders who had the same story "I was raised in a cult and passed around for sex". I am not saying it didn't happen, but in many cases these stories are made up and exaggerated for sympathy effect and attention (part of the personality disorder). Being that she brought it up AFTER being fired makes it that much more suspicious to me. Jen

Duh! For the badge! Officers love their many badges! Jen

Hmmm... Option #1: Deploy to a combat zone and get all the extra pay and tax exemption Option #2: Get promoted Option #3: Go into debt with credit card/loan Or like Krisanne said: Pack Good Luck! Jen

Being currently pregnant, I am starting to feel some "swings". Not severe. Last week, I felt good and happy. The last couple of days I have gone from depressed to irritable and back, without much provocation. I feel it may get worse as the months roll along! Jen

?? I don't understand this statement. What Women? Jen

Sorry to bust your bubble, but Prince did not do "Oh Sheila". That was Ready for the World. Good song though. (I owned the cassette tape in 1987) Jen

Just echoing everyone else here- It is NOT the same thing! Boys who have a circumcision can still enjoy sex throughout life! It's mostly done in boys nowadays to prevent nasty infections throughout life! (In fact, currently in the US, only about 65% of newborn males get a circumcision).Get some education on male circumcisions in the US and female clitoris cutting in 3rd world countries, before making such a blatantly ignorant statement! Jen

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Life really gets good now!

I have a medical condition that does not allow me to take any form of hormonal birth control. That said, my husband and I have been using condoms as our sole method of birth control for 10 years, and no little one yet! It's been very dependable for us. As for the topic on hand: I believe everyone has a right to make their own decisions about procreation. Jen