nerdgirl

Honestly, and owned entirely as my own opinion and based on my experiences, I think it will be lower for OIF and OEF veterans than even the veterans operations of the Persian Gulf War (Desert Storm, Desert Sabre, Desert Shield, Instant Thunder, & I think I forgot one or 2 ... ). Awareness is significantly higher and negative stigma is significantly lower (altho' still too high). There also are individuals in policy positions who remember what you describe. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I apologize if my response seemed to be trying to “pigeon hole.” Sometimes it’s hard to not sound snarky via ASCII text, and I’m trying to not do so. And intentionally trying to use neutral, non-inflammatory language. Where is our interpretation wrong? How is what you are putting forth not at its core based on essentialistic arguments in which value is prioritized on one specific view of fertility (your word & the word used in the Humanae Vitae)? Why or what specifically makes other natural processes less valid as indicators? Why are the instances in which I sited less valid or inaccurate? Yes, those are the easy ones. He will do that, I will do that ... & so will lots of other folks. Nature of the online forum, eh?

I can dispute it ... or at least muddy the proverbial miasmic waters. Perhaps if you re-consider the hypothesis a little you may see where/how compassion/altruism benefits the long term survival of the human species (think about reproduction and enabling your progeny to survive and reproduce in the future just to start, along with cooperative building). And that's not just speculation on my part. The disparate fields of sociobiology, philosophy, evolutionary psychology, & economic game theory deal directly with this. Just a few examples off the top of my head (when I first put responded to another thread

Is this an invitation to make a list of things that qualify for inclusion under the thread subject? Mundane: if you are not driving the speed limit and there is a line of cars greater than 5 behind you, please move toward the right. The IT guy in my office who seems to think that the IT dept exists for some reason other than to facilitiate execution of the mission of the office (which is not IT). He also has hoarded a closet full of computer and other IT equipment that a colleague & I discovered today. People that use "theory" when they mean hypothesis or guess, or even "WAG." Hmmm .... I think this could be a long list ... /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

"No Purple Hearts for PTSD, Pentagon rules" “The Purple Heart will not be awarded to service members suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, the Pentagon confirmed Monday. “‘It’s not a qualifying Purple Heart wound,’ said Defense Department spokeswoman Eileen Lainez, although she added that “advancements in medical science may support future re-evaluation.’ “The decision, reached Nov. 3 but not made public until now, followed months of evaluation by military and outside officials. That evaluation was spurred when Defense Secretary Robert Gates was asked at a May press conference whether he would support awarding the Purple Heart to PTSD sufferers. “Gates said the idea was ‘clearly something that needs to be looked at.’ His undersecretary for personnel and readiness, David S.C. Chu, decided against making such awards after conferring with the Pentagon’s Awards Advisory Group, which includes ‘awards experts’ from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the military services, the Institute of Heraldry and the Center for Military History, according to Lainez. “Gates concurred with that decision, Lainez said. “Lainez stressed that the Pentagon ‘is working hard to encourage service members and their families to seek care for PTSD, by reducing the stigma and urging them to seek professional care. Service members diagnosed with PTSD “still warrant appropriate medical care and disability compensation,’ she said." Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Just to make sure we're both talking about the same thing: do you mean "theory" in the vernacular speculative idea/hypthetical notion usage? Or in the precise scientific meaning? The two usages are almost antonyms of each other and most definitely NOT synonyms. All scientific theories are falsifiable from electromagnetism to "germ theory," i.e., bacteria and viruses cause infectious diseases (not "bad spirits," the evil witch down the lane, etc.) to atomic theory to (mathematical) group theory to clonal selection theory (immunity), etc. To be falsifiable is a requirement of a scientific theory. Understanding evolution as the physical-chemical method by which humans and all other living species on Earth came to be does not necessarily obviate belief in a higher deity. They are not incompatible. It’s sometimes known as theistic evolution. One way of reconciling evolutionary theory with belief in God is to consider God to have sparked the Big Bang, which eventually led to evolution. That’s not intelligent design either. The compatibility of evolution and believing in a higher power is well-illustrated by Chapter 3 & some of the other sidebars (e.g., pp. 13-15) in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM)’s “Science, Evolution, and Creationism” report. It includes statements by Pope John Paul II, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Presbyterian General Assembly, and the Clergy Letter Project disputing the claim that evolution is in conflict with religious belief. I’m heartened to see that minister at my church has signed the latter. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I do think that you have, however, intentionally or inadvertently, gotten to the crux of the issue. It’s not about environmentalism, it’s about essentialistic definitions of the sexes and the roles that the Catholic Church (& other religions/cultures) expects one half of the world to fulfill. Sometimes these get one to unresolvable philosophical differences. Given that you know something about microbiology, you most likely took a biochemistry course or two. Of all the physiological pathways/processes, why is one a “defining” characteristic? Why not ATP synthase? Why not serotonin synthesis? (One might argue the neurotransmitters and associated activity are more responsible for unique human characteristics than the placenta & mammalian egg.) Or from another perspective, if women are defined by fertility (laying aside the issue of women who “naturally” are infertile – are they not women? – for a moment), what are men defined by? The penis? Is that really all you want to be reduced to? It is a reductionist argument. Men are a lot more than their external plumbing. Similarly women are a lot more than internal plumbing. W/r/t suppressing or altering “natural bodily functions” – are diabetics any less human because they take insulin? How about those who are hyperthyroidic who take drugs to reduce the levels of hormones? There are lots of natural phenomena, from smallpox to cancer, which we’ve tried to suppress. If one wants to base an argument on a physiological functions, those challenges must be reconciled. Dismissing them does not make them go away. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Oooh, "Obi-Wan" - like that! As an unrepetant Star Wars fan, I'm going to borrow that, with permission, of course? /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

What do you think of the choice of former Representative and White House chief of staff Leon Panetta? “Brilliant” or foolish? Former CIA deputy director Milt Bearden, called it a “brilliant” choice. “It is not problematic that Panetta lacks experience in intelligence. Intel experience is overrated. Good judgement, common sense, and an understanding of Washington is a far better mix to take to Langley than the presumption of experience in intelligence matters. Having a civilian in the intelligence community mix is, likewise, a useful balance.” Time Magazine’s Joe Klein leans to the other end of the spectrum (on the Panetta pick): “This smells a bit of desperation. Leon Panetta is a terrific guy, a fine public servant--one of those people who reek of sanity and good judgment--but he doesn't have much, if any, experience in spook world. "The problem was trying to find a DCI with intelligence experience who wasn't tainted during the Bush Administration. The CIA had a mixed record during the past eight years--it wasn't very good at penetrating Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network; it was mixed up in some very dirty stuff, like torture and rendition; but its analysts were reluctant participants in the Bush-Cheney Iraq war hysteria and, as a result of their honesty, eventually were subjected to a Cheney-led purge, officiated over by Porter Goss, the worst CIA director in recent memory.” I think it’s a very interesting choice – trying to read the metaphorical strategic tea leaves. I agree with the argument on the value of experience in the White House and Congress; that enables Panetta to have an understanding that those who have been solely in the IC don’t have. He has the potential to be a more effective advocate and the champion in the White House and Congress. (Of course I would have offered the same argument w/r/t former DCI Goss w/r/t his experience in Congress … & that didn’t work out so well … & GEN Hayden w/r/t military.) Questions are going to be asked ... and *should* be asked, imo ... regarding Panetta's call for cuts to the CIA budget when he was OMB director. NB: while OMB Director he advocated shifting larger amounts of the IC budget to DoD Title 50 agencies (DIA, NSA, NGIC, etc) as part of nascent efforts to do what was done in a much grander scale with the formation of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Did anyone find the actual text of the proposed rules changes? Reading what was circulated on the internet, including the letter signed by GOP House leadership, the issue seems to be term limits on committee chairs and unspecified changes to legislation on taxes. It’s not clear how what’s stated in the letter differs substantively from previous House rules of order. They have to be re-submitted and voted on at the opening of every session of the House. And it is the Speaker of House's responsibility to propose them. Less partisan article from the Associated Press. Sort of devil’s advocate argument: If one accepts the blog text being circulated round the 'net as completely factual, it suggests a provocative scenario. Rep Pelosi, who is already vilified by parts of the blog-o-sphere, is the ‘bad guy’ … or ‘bad girl’ in this situation. If one wants to craft a grand sort of strategy (or conspiracy theory … depending on one’s perspective) this might be ingenious. Focuses all of the attention on Congress. Of course, to accept that one would have to believe in higher level of coordination between the executive and legislative branches than I have ever observed. Inside the beltway, the main divide is not GOP v DEM, it's Executive v Legislative. The latter consider the budget to be their money that the former isn't spending the way they want; the former consider the budget to be their money that Congress won't give them. The Beltway Bandits don't care and just want it to get to them as quickly as possibility, e.g., earmarks. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I tend to agree with you in the most general of cases. Goodness knows I’ve had to represent positions with which I don’t agree … guess what: in the real world, it’s not always about *me* ... or any-you either. Is the person being asked/refusing to do something illegal or not? Or is it a disagreement with policy choices? Is the person a civil servant, political appointee, elected or ‘none of the above’? It does matter. Is the position intended as administrative, analytical, regulatory, policy-making, or 'none of the above'? Refusing to do something, e.g., being a whistle-blower, can be characteristic of higher integrity ... & too often has more negative repercussions for the individual doing the whistle-blowing unfortunately. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Both the initial announcement and the subsequent discussion reminds me in many ways of the 2003 announcement by Imams in Kano, Zamfara, and Kaduna states of northern Nigeria that polio vaccine would cause sterility in male infants: Datti Ahmed, a Kano physician who heads a prominent Muslim group, the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, said polio vaccines were ‘corrupted and tainted by evildoers from America and their Western allies. We believe that modern-day Hitlers have deliberately adulterated the oral polio vaccines with anti-fertility drugs and contaminated with certain viruses which are known to cause HIV and AIDS.’ Muslim groups rejected the results [of testing in western laboratories]. Kano state officials insisted their own scientists tested the vaccines and found trace amounts of oestrogen and progesterone, female sex hormones which the officials feared could cause infertility. Jama'atu Nasril Islam, an influential Muslim group, said it sponsored its own tests in Britain and India and got similar results. That led to polio spreading to twenty countries (as far away as Indonesia), including a dozen or so that from which polio had previously been eradicated. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

“Posh” – that’s a descriptor that I’ve never heard used to describe me before. Never sure with the Brits of the level of sardonic wit in the repartee. A few years ago I had dinner with a friend (much older than I – she was the first female physicist to work at Eastman-Kodak, a very cool lady!) who I hadn’t seen since I was in my late teens. She described me as having become “demure.” I had never thought of myself as embodying “demure.” Neither resembles my place much. I do have a tea kettle but not the optional accoutrement included in the reflection. My place is more eclectic-international-artsy-scholarly (lots of books … never can have too many books, imo). I do have a zebra-print couch and sheepskin rug (dyed a sort of dark turquoise shade) ... & crampons, ice-axes, lots of camping equipment. /Marg p.s. I’m a red-head Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Concur that it’s an interesting "what if?"-type question that uniformed folks should think through their responses: follow lawful order or not? And that non-uniformed citizens should think about regardless of the motivations of the OP, of which I have zero insight. Imo, it’s also more of a potentially thoughtful "what if?" question than a pragmatic one domestically. Widespread domestic insurrection likely to trigger the Insurrection Act Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies Act is more Hollywood or conspiracy web pages (at both end of the political spectrum … & the corners too) than reality. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Yes, there are multiple statutes under which active duty military could conceivably be deployed CONUS under a non-foreign military invasion situation. There are not a lot of them but they do exist for Title 10 forces, e.g., incident involving nuclear material (Title 18 USC, Section 831) and chemical or biological weapons emergency (Title 10 USC, Section 382). Both require concurrence of Attorney General and SecDef not State Governors. One specific example of which I am familiar is CONPLAN: 0500-98, "Military Assistance in Domestic Consequence Management Operations in Response to a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, or High-Yield Explosive Situation." Title 10 forces can be activated altho’ whether they could be used in the manner suggested by the OP is unclear – I would argue unlikely under such a situation. Title 32 forces (National Guard) could be, however. The Stafford Act also permits use of active duty military domestically during natural disasters. There’s some limit on the number of days, 10 or 12 iirc. Active duty military have previously been used domestically in the “War on drugs”, approved Congress in Title 10 U.S.C., sections 371–381. The Insurrection Act (Title 10 USC, Sections 331-335) has been generally read as giving the President the authority to deploy active duty (Title 10 forces) military personnel at the request of Governor or a State legislature to suppress insurrections. It also allows the President to use federal troops to enforce federal laws when rebellion against the authority of the US makes it impracticable to enforce the laws of the land. Section 332: Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion. As part of PL 109-364, the “John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122, sponsored by Rep Duncan Hunter (R-CA)), signed by President Bush in 2006, Sec. 1076. Use of the Armed Forces in major public emergencies, amended Section 333 of Title 10 USC to read as follows: Major public emergencies; interference with State and Federal law (a) Use of Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies- (1) The President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to— (A) restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States, the President determines that-- (i) domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order; and (ii) such violence results in a condition described in paragraph (2); or (B) suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy if such insurrection, violation, combination, or conspiracy results in a condition described in paragraph (2). (2) A condition described in this paragraph is a condition that-- (A) so hinders the execution of the laws of a State or possession, as applicable, and of the United States within that State or possession, that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law, and the constituted authorities of that State or possession are unable, fail, or refuse to protect that right, privilege, or immunity, or to give that protection; or (B)opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws. How individuals in the Title 10 forces or State, federal, local, or tribal law enforcement might respond to such an order is a different question. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

The spirit of your post is a good one. Unfortunately, the thread title and content are incorrect in many ways. US overseas chemical agents were brought to Johnston Atoll (north Pacific) in the 1970s and 1980s. There are no more US overseas stockpiles of CW. The US started destroying nerve agent stocks in the 1980s (more than 66 months ago) at Johnston Atoll. At the end of December, VX stocks that were under the Army’s Chemical Materials Agency *incineration* program (all demil sites but Pueblo & Anniston which are under the ACWA program) were demilitarized and the last VX-containing landmine was destroyed at Anniston. That was the story. That’s different than “all” VX stocks or all nerve agents in the stockpile. Blue Grass Chemical Activity has over 85,000 munitions containing GB and VX (as M55 rockets, M56 warheads, 155m & 8-inch mortars). Tooele still has GA rockets as well. As far as other declared stockpiles: UK and Canada destroyed all of their nerve agent stocks before 1997. India, and “another state party” [i.e., ROK, possibly the world’s least well-kept secret in international diplomacy] have destroyed nearly all of their chemical stockpiles. Russia has destroyed ~30% of its declared stockpile, including stockpiles of nerve agents. Only 3 destruction sites are currently operating in Russia. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I think you’ve highlighted an important challenge: how does one differentiate the Mullah Omar-esque Taliban (unrepentant) from the wider Pashtun population that is tacitly supporting (out of fear, necessity, ignorance, stupidity, malice, etc)? And from the affiliate groups, e.g., the Soviet-era warlord (& criminal) types like Hekmatyar Gulbuddin & Jallaludin Haqqani? Would you clarify this statement a little? Democracies are inherently instable *compared* to autocracies: democracies have changes in governments. I think I know what you meant (particular in context of next paragraph) but wanted to be sure I wasn’t reading it incorrectly. US policy has been to advocate for democratic institutions (for lots of reasons) not usually because they’re more stable. We also want a stable democracies for the lots of reasons (like stability correlates with less fighting, increased economic growth, etc). Good points & good questions. What would entice that wider portion of the population that tacitly or explicitly supports the unrepentant Taliban leadership (Mullah Omar, etc) to stop supporting them? And what’s the goal of the US/coalition mission? The tools/tactics/strategies to apprehend/catch individuals, e.g., Usama bin Laden, are different from the tools/tactics/strategies to execute stability and reconstruction operations. As abhorrent as I find the Taliban and their supporters [to put it most diplomatically], my priorities are the near- & long-term strategic interests of the US. Pursuing purely kinetic methods [or nuclear methods] are not going to provide solutions in either time frame nor is abandoning the state. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

That is, however, counter to DoD policy: DoDD 3000.05 “Military Support to Security, Stability, Transition and Reconstruction Operations,” issued November 2005, states It is DoD policy that: 4.1. Stability operations are a core U.S. military mission shall be prepared to conduct and support. They shall be operations and be explicitly addressed and integrated across doctrine, organizations, training, education, exercises, materiel, and planning. 4.2. Stability operations are conducted to help establish and values. The immediate goal often is to provide the essential services, and meet humanitarian needs. The long-indigenous capacity for securing essential services, a viable democratic institutions, and a robust civil society. and DoDD 3000.07 "Irregular Warfare," issued December 2008, states It is DoD policy to: a. Recognize that IW is as strategically important as traditional warfare. Many of the capabilities and skills required for IW are applicable to traditional warfare, but their role in IW can be proportionally greater than in traditional warfare. b. Improve DoD proficiency for IW, which also enhances its conduct of stability operations. Stability operations are a core U.S. military mission that the Department of Defense shall be prepared to conduct across the full range of military operations in accordance with DoD Directive 3000.05. So either military policy is out of sync with intentions/desires of the populace or the populace hasn’t caught up? Those two directives are potentially the most significant changes to the DoD since Goldwater-Nichols Act institutionalized “Joint,” imo. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Oooh … I like it! Fun. I’m exploring incorporating myself, as an LLC: “Nerdgirl and Associates, LLC” … right up there with “Kissinger and Associates” . I will need a logo. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Not one of which I am aware. Like Mike, I’m an American mutt – known ancestry traces back to northern Italy, France (Alsace Lorraine & Loire Valley area), England (don’t remember where specifically - had a grandfather who was a “Brown”), Portugal, western Germany, Germany/Poland (one of the towns at the border, which border seemed to depend on the century), and Russia (western). I do find it kind of neat that my surname is more common in Thailand, Cambodia, and Korea than Europe … a couple years ago when I volunteered with a Thai Girl Scout troop (the leader was one of my work colleagues), many of the parents assumed I was Thai too based on my last name; I’m not. Suspect an “owski” or some other modifier was dropped between eastern Europe & here. My connection and allegiance is to America. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Apologies on the delay in responding; I missed this one. Suspect it was the American Thanksgiving holiday & my being >10,000 ft up Colorado mountains. (And I'm still waiting on some pics from other peaks you promised some while ago. ) Mostly out of curiousity, what official policy am I supposed to be representing? I've been called everything from Neo-Con to communist - the former IRL & the latter here. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

From the International Council on Security and Development report released 8 December 2008: “Struggle For Kabul: The Taliban Advance ” “The Taliban now holds a permanent presence in 72% of Afghanistan, up from 54% a year ago. Taliban forces have advanced from their southern heartlands, where they are now the de facto governing power in a number of towns and villages, to Afghanistan’s western and north-western provinces, as well as provinces north of Kabul. Within a year, the Taliban's permanent presence in the country has increased by a startling 18%. “Three out of the four main highways into Kabul are now compromised by Taliban activity. The capital city has plummeted to minimum levels of control, with the Taliban and other criminal elements infiltrating the city at will.” “Afghans and U.S. Plan to Recruit Local Militias” “The plan for the militias, approved this month by President Hamid Karzai, is being pushed forward anyway, to help stem the deteriorating security situation here. The proposal to field what amounts to lightly trained gunmen reflects the sense of urgency surrounding the fight against the Taliban, who were removed from power after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but who have staged a remarkable resurgence in recent years. “American commanders say that while they would prefer to field Afghan Army and police forces, they are simply not available. ‘We don’t have enough police,’ said Maj. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, the deputy commander of American forces in the country. ‘We don’t have time to get the police ready.’ “In recent months, the Taliban have moved into the provinces around Kabul, including Wardak to its west. In addition to setting up the first local Afghan militias there, American commanders are sending several hundred American soldiers to the province, the first of which have already arrived. Wardak Province is bisected by the country’s national highway, which has been the scene of numerous ambushes of supply convoys by Taliban insurgents. “The plan for the militias coincides with the arrival of Gen. David H. Petraeus, who presided over the reduction in violence in Iraq and who has since become overall commander for American forces in Afghanistan and the rest of the region. The Americans are sending 20,000 to 30,000 troops over the next year, in addition to the nearly 70,000 American and NATO troops who are already here. President-elect Barack Obama has declared that he will redouble America’s efforts to win. “The formation of the militias is at least a partial answer to the question of how American commanders intend to wrest back the initiative from the Taliban over the next 12 months. While some elected officials in the United States have suggested that the Americans and Afghans might try to exploit fissures in the Taliban, possibly breaking off some groups that can be reconciled, the plan for the militias — coupled with the influx of fresh American forces — suggests that American commanders intend to squeeze the Taliban first.” “American and Afghan officials say they intend to set up local militias of 100 to 200 fighters in each provincial district, with the fighters being drawn from the villages where they live. (Wardak has eight districts.) “A Taliban commander based in Wardak Province, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear that he would become a target, predicted that the government militias would find it hard to put down roots in the area, if only because the Taliban had already done so. “‘We are living in the districts, in the villages -- we are not living in the mountains,’ the Taliban chief said. ‘The people are with us.’” In the context of the ICOS report and the last two paragraphs above, one wonders whether the subject line question is no longer a normative but a pragmatic inevitability… ? VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Re-reading through the thread and your reply to [Jakee], I'm wondering if we're talking cross-purposes on conceptions of an afterlife and cognition of higher deities? I would consider animist reincarnation beliefs to be a conception of an afterlife. It's not the predominant one from montheistic religions for sure. It is a conception of an afterlife tho, yes? Animist groups also have cognition of higher or supernatural deities. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Cool thread-drift tangent! /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Folks get this is correlation not causation, yes? Like increase in incidence of murder and increase in ice cream sales in New York City. Breakfast is a dependent or "lurking" variable not the independent variable. The cited news story alludes to that: The study, which interviewed people aged between 16 and 49 during September, also found that teenagers who were annoyed by their mothers were more likely to have sex for the first time at a younger age. Those who had difficult relationships with their mother lost their virginity at 16 compared to 19 years of age for those who enjoyed a positive maternal relationship, according to the study. The link between breakfast and sex cast a spotlight onto the family life and domestic set-up of the nation's teenagers, according to Kunio Kitamura, executive director of the Japan Family Planning Association, which conducted the government-backed survey. "The fact that people can't eat breakfast may show something about their family environment," said Dr Kitamura. "Before blaming individuals for having sex at an early age, it may be necessary to look into the sort of homes they are from." VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying