anonemouse

Not really. The internship would require lots of lifting and physical activity, so I don't think there is any way I could have surgery and still be able to fulfill the requirements of the internship. I am hoping that if the surgeon's office will go ahead and give me a date, it might be late enough in the summer that I could do the internship.

I considered him, but decided to go with Dr. McGrath-Weaver in Memphis instead. According to his OH profile (which I know isn't current, but still...), he's only done about 20 or so bands.

SNOW! It's freaking snowing. In APRIL. Damn it, just when the flowers come out and the weather's nice, we get hit with icky, cold, snowy weather.:faint:

Anyone else played with these on their customized Google pages? They're neat! They actually change with the time of day! Yes, I'm a dork, but it's so cool!

To be honest, I looked at my mom. I am heavier than she is already, but I don't have nearly the health conditions. I knew, though, that if I let myself continue like I was, I would end up just like her, only heavier. She has full blown diabetes, high cholesterol, and had to have both knees replaced. I already had insulin resistance and high cholesterol, so I knew it was just a matter of time. I knew that surgery was my only option. I've tried plain excerise and dieting in the past, but I always blow the diet because I eventually get so hungry that I sabotage myself. I just don't know when to quit eating.

Actually, the ACLU does protect the rights of Christians, just as long as those rights don't infringe on the rights of other people. I believe that you should find some instances if you search the ACLU website. I would imagine that, like WASaBubble Butt said, they aren't getting involved in this case because no one's rights were being infringed.

Synicalchick, I hope you get your new shoes soon!

Yeah, the thing I am most looking forward to is getting some sleep. I've managed to stress myself out enough that I'm getting hardly any sleep. You'd think I would learn that it's bad to procrastinate. But, noooo. I can actually say for once, though, that it isn't all my fault. My advisor decided that he wanted to do my statistics for me and didn't get the results back to me until yesterday night. Plus, he still hasn't sent me the pictures that I need for the presentation. Makes it a ton of fun to try and finish a presentation when you don't have everything you need. I'll have it done by Friday morning, though, if it kills me.

To be honest, December wouldn't be much less stressful. I am hoping to finish my Master's program in December, and then move to another university and start a PhD program. What I may do is put off the PhD program until Fall 2008, and spend the spring and summer doing internships. They'll be offering this internship again next summer, probably, so I may just wait and apply for that one. It would actually be better, probably, because I'll be in better physical condition. It's probably what's best, but it's still disappointing to look at all these great opportunities that I can't take.

I know what you mean. I have a teaching assistantship, so part of my duties are to teach non-majors' biology labs and assist in a couple of education-majors' biology classes. I've learned so much, just because I actually have to teach the students. You can learn things in classes until the cows come home, but you don't really know them until you can teach it to someone else. I have to say, I like the education-majors' classes the best. My non-majors just kind of sit there and stare at me, but the future teachers actually want to know the material. Most of them ask lots of questions. I've learned more in those classes than in some of my own biology classes. 1 pound lean ground beef (could be made with ground pork or turkey, if you want to cut calories)couple of teaspoons minced garlic 2 15 oz cans of tomato sauce 1 14.5 oz can petite diced (or regular diced, whatever you prefer) tomatos 1 can Rotel (diced tomatos and green chilis) 1 can corn (I've used yellow, but have been wanting to try white) - this imitates the texture of Beans 1 packet McCormich original chili seasoning Brown the beef with the garlic and drain it. Add everything else, let cook at medium-low heat for at least 30 minutes. It can also be prepared in a crock pot (other than browning the meat) and cooked on low for several hours. Beware, though, it gets spicier the longer it is cooked. Serve topped with shredded cheese.

And by the way? The best thing ever when you are super-stressed is homemade beanless chili. I made some last night, had it again for lunch today, and I'll probably have it for dinner again tonight. Nothing like working up a sweat while eating.

How the heck should I know? And by the way, your statement is really part of what I'm trying to get across. Just because someone mentions the names God or Allah, does not make them a Christian or a Muslim. I think we can all safely agree that the majority of the people out there killing in the name of their deity would not be considered true believers. Which brings me to another point (I'm thinking as I type, so sorry if it's a little incoherent): Who are we to decide who is or isn't a true believer? What gives us the right to say, "well, they aren't real Christians" or "they aren't real Muslims" just because they have beliefs or perform actions that we don't agree with? They are the only people that can say whether or not they have a true relationship with their deity, so who's to say that they aren't true believers, and that they aren't going to the same place all other true believers go? They may be "US soil", but they aren't here in the US. Just like Puerto Rico is considered to be US soil, since it is a US territory, it isn't inside the US. Some jackass driving a truck bomb into an embassy in BFE still isn't endangering you or me.

Jack, for the last time, we are not talking about world violence. We are talking about violence INSIDE the US. And like it or not, the majority of religious violence inside the US has been by Christians. I'll concede your point about violence outside the US, but that is not what this discussion is about.

Did they happen in the US? If they did, I'll be happy to reward you with "rightous anger". While those actions are horrible, if they didn't happen in the US, they aren't endangering you or me. Yes, they killed thousands. But they were still only two attacks. But again, that's more of a lack of thinking big on the part of the Christian terrorists. I'm sure that if they were given the chance of killing thousands of "baby killers" in one strike, they would have jumped at the chance. And no, those other attacks really don't count, not when what we are discussing is our safety here inside the United States. If we were discussing the safety of US citizens in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afganistan, or Iraq, then yeah, they'd count. But, I'll say yet again, what we are discussing is the safety of average US citizens inside the borders of the United States. Not the safety of people in other countries. Yep, I am. From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/01/AR2007040100314.html She has clout, huh? I give you the fact that she's speaker of the house and 3rd in line to the Presidency, but it isn't like she's out there talking the President into anything. You and I both know that he will never listen to her. He won't listen to any Democrat. And personally, I'm glad someone is stepping in. If we let Bush continue on the crusade he's on, he'll start WWIII. And heck, we both know that they're not terribly inclined to listen to a woman, in the first place. So I would imagine that the male lawmakers have a heck of a lot more clout than one woman, no matter how powerful her position.

I feel that Christians are people, just like everyone else. As such, they are no more or no less prone to violence or bigotry than any other group. I just think it is absolutely blind to say that we are in more danger from one group who has made two whole attacks in our country than a group that has made dozens. I think it is delusional to say that Christians can't be violent because of the fact that they happen to be Christian. They are human beings, and therefore they are capable of extreme violence. And you do know that Pelosi wasn't the only American conducting foreign policy in the Middle East, right? There were Republican senators there, also.

That's exactly what I believe. Although, we probably disagree about exactly who is too big for their britches.

Yes, you did, but Mousecrazy made the following post:

Not really. Just wondering about your thought processes. In my experience, when people bring up a topic for conversation or debate, they generally don't complain when people actually bother to debate it. Did you want people to discuss Christian violence versus Muslim violence or not? If not, why did you bring the topic up?

Ya know, I don't get this. You post about an article on people preparing for a religiously-themed attack, wonder why people are preparing for a Christian attack rather than a Muslim attack, and then get upset when people want to discuss the probability of said religiously-themed attack. That doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense, to be honest.

Did you not see "radical fundamentalist Christian" in my posts? I am by no means attributing the actions of a few Christians to all Christians. I feel that most Christians are loving people, just like the majority of all religions. Unfortunately, there are also some nutjobs and wackos, also just like all other religions. Feel free. I await your analysis with baited breath. Mousecrazy, I don't live in fear of Christians. I was simply answering your question of which group would be most likely to harm me, and I backed up my opinion with reasons why. If you don't like the answer, don't ask the question. Based on the actual numbers of attacks in this country, Christians win hands down. And feel free to pray as much as you want. It isn't like I believe there's anyone listening.

Where are the Muslims doing this in the United States? What I've been talking about is the danger to us here in the United States. And like it or not, there have still been more acts of terrorism by Christian extremists than Muslim extremists HERE IN THE UNITED STATES. If we were in Saudi Arabia, then I'd say that we were in much more danger from Muslim extremists than Christian extremists, but we don't live in Saudi Arabia. Um, have you ever talked to a radical fundamentalist Christian? I assure you that these folks do exist. They're the ones advocating the teaching of Intelligent Design and creationism in science classrooms (because that's what it says in the Bible), the outlawing of homosexual behavior (because that's what it says in the Bible), the outlawing of abortion (because that's what it says in the Bible). They're also those nice folks who stand around with signs that say "Kill all fags," "homosexuality is death," and "AIDS is God's way of ridding the world of homosexuality". I don't think violent radical Muslims will accept my version of 'live and let live'. But I also don't think we're in that much danger from them here in the US. For one, it's going to be a long time before Islam is anywhere near the dominant religion here. Secondly, there have been only two actual attacks by Muslim terrorists here in the US. TWO. When you compare that to the number of attacks by Christians, I think you can see the discrepancy between the likelihood of a random person on the street in the United States being attacked by Muslims and the likelihood of that person being attacked by Christians. We aren't talking about pamphleteers. We're talking about folks who burn down buildings, drive bombs into buildings, send out death threats, murder or attempt to murder people, throw butyric acid in people's faces, assault people, and kidnap them. I wouldn't characterize them as "otherwise docile pamphleteers".

Muslim extremists may have actually killed more people, but that's more from a lack of actual planning and execution on the part of the Christian extremists. In terms of the number of attempts to terrorize, harm, or kill people in the US, Christians still get the gold medal. Don't forget these, from Wikipedia:

Counting the ones in Ireland and other countries, or just the ones in the US? Because if you just count the ones that occured in the US, I am pretty sure that the Christians would win in terms of the number of bombings. After all, to my knowledge, the only Muslim attacks that've been carried out inside the United States (that immediately come to mind, at least) were the two World Trade Center attacks (the '90s one and 9/11). And after all, it is our safety inside the United States that we're talking about, correct?

I'm sorry, but you have no idea whether or not this girl has a diet history. Just because someone might be "smaller" doesn't mean they don't have a severe weight history. Most of us can succeed at losing weight, we just can't keep it off. And just because someone isn't as heavy as you were, doesn't mean that they don't have a weight problem. Who are you to judge her for wanting to make herself healthier? She may not be considered "morbidly obese" medically, but she is still "severely obese". She has the same right as you do to try and lose weight. And if this is the only way she can lose her extra pounds, who are you to tell her she's wrong? We get enough crap from the rest of the people in our lives about being too fat, we don't need crap from other fat people because we aren't fat enough for them to accept us. Attitudes like that really burn me. When I went to a required group therapy program at my last surgeon's practice, I got lots of remarks like, "But you're so small!" Small, my ass. I may have been smaller than them, but I was by no means small. And really, who are you to judge someone that is wanting to take care of their obesity before they reach the point where they've lost hope?

I think there was a research paper published recently that found that the majority of so-called "religious terrorism" was actually "political terrorism". I think we can safely say that there hasn't been any serious threats to our nation by true "Muslims," either. Just because someone professes that they are killing people in the name of their "God" or their "Allah" does not mean that they truly are. IMO, they are using a nice excuse to go kill folks who have political ideas that they don't agree with. We can say that about both Muslim terrorists and Christian terrorists. From Wikipedia: