anonemouse

I don't know if the media created people like Paris. I personally feel that they've always been around, people getting what they wanted when they wanted is and getting away with everything, just because of who they are. Maybe the media just exposes it more now. I mean, yeah, Paris is a well-known figure to everyone now because of the media, but simply being the heirress to the Hilton empire and being so rich seems like it would probably have gotten her out of quite a bit, even if the media wasn't like it is. It's just more obvious and public now.

Yep, I will be 24 in just over a month and a half. I've always been told that I am very mature for my age. I was never one to do all the "teen" stuff. I always felt like I was much older emotionally than the people my age. Heck, it's not how old you really are that matters, it's how old you feel!

What tests do they do right before surgery, to make sure you're okay to have it?

That's disappointing. It's always looked so good.

As a whole, the Disciples of Christ denomination is actually fairly liberal, for a Christian denomination. Of course, that's relative. I met a lot of wonderful people when I was going to church. I also met some horrible, bigoted people that used their religious belief to excuse their bigotry.

I need to start going to a tanning salon. Any ideas of how to start out? I don't even know if I'll need to use lotions or oils or anything. I've never been to one before. My brother is getting married later this month and has told me that I better have a tan for the pictures. I'd use a tanning spray, but unfortunately all the ones that I've tried turn orange on me.

I went today for my 4-minute session. I used a vertical system, and I like it! It's a little warm in there, but there is a strong fan sucking air through it, which is nice. One of my big objections to the horizontal beds is the sweaty feel that would probably happen, with being right up against the acrylic. I think I am going to go again on Sunday.

Oh, yeah, that makes it even worse. My family is relatively diverse, both in political beliefs and religious beliefs. My dad's family was raised in the Disciples of Christ denomination in Nashville in the '30s, '40s, and '50's. Obviously, that did not lend itself to racial tolerance, a fact that makes itself known more and more as they get older. One of my uncles converted to Catholicism when he married, and one of my aunts became Southern Baptist when she married. Another aunt is very liberal, as is one of the other uncles. As you can probably imagine, family gatherings can be quite tense, as none of the family members knows how to keep their mouth shut. (Except me, I tend to shut up and observe, since I am the only Atheist I know of in the family, and that fact would not go over well. Plus, it can be quite entertaining at times.) Hey, it makes for good, if occasionally a little too spirited, conversation. :heh:

I am so sick of the editing problems! I wanted to add to the above post again, but don't feel like taking the time to edit it. Anyway: I've always wanted to try brie en croute (is that how you spell it?).

I am not a fan of funky textures/flavors/smells, so I've never been able to eat blue cheeses, cream-style or farm-style cheeses (cream cheese, neufchatel, cottage, etc.). Literally, the smell makes me gag. What's brie like? I've always wanted to try it, but didn't want to spend a chunk of change on something I might not like. I tend to stick with harder, more mature cheeses, honestly.

Eek! That's horrible!

I think the judge was so pissed that she's been given special treatment, and that he was being asked to give her even more, that he gave her a harsher sentence than he probably would have. I don't blame him, though. We've seen so many cases where celebs get away with a slap on the wrist, it's nice to see one getting what she deserves. And to me, she was released because of who she was. Another person would not have gotten out of jail because of the reasons she did. Yes, if that hadn't happened, she may have been released early anyway, but it did happen. And I think it rightfully pissed off the judge.

I hate that I do it, but I guess I view people through tinted glasses sometimes. I think we all do, though. I have been exposed to so many people that fit the stereotypes I mentioned earlier, that it does color my view of other people in those groups. And then I meet people on here that fit that stereotype (at least, in my interaction with them), and it colors my opinion of those groups even more. (Note, I'm not referring to you, Gadgetlady. I think we can generally get along, and we actually agree on a lot of things, even if we have to agree to disagree on others. Plus, I think we both like intellectual conversations. )

I have talked to pro-life folks in real life. And the ones I have talked to have been not necessarily hateful of women, but definitely believe that women have their place and that they should stay in it and they have disdained women who dared to get out of their pigeon-hole of being a wife and mother, and being subservient to men. Do I think that there are different folks out there? You bet, but I've not been in contact with very many. It may be different in Southern California, but in the South, there are those stereotypes for a reason. To be honest, you probably think I am intolerant of super-conservative Christians. And I am, to a certain extent. But that's because I know what many of them are like where I'm from. The vast majority that I have EVER been in contact with (some of my family included) have been racist (latently or obviously), sexist, homophobic, etc. That is the impression I have been given of conservative Christians. Again, I know intellectually that the stereotype is not true of all conservative Christians. But I think that, like all stereotypes, there is truth to it, in some cases.

Here's an interesting page, basically quotes from years past, concerning the "decline" of evolution: More And More Apparently, evolution has been supposedly "declining" for the last 180+ years.

That's definitely laudable. Unfortunately, I think you are either in the minority or the other folks have much louder voices, so to speak.

I did not say the scientific community needs to accept it more. I said: In other words, it will be commonly accepted by the general, non-science public. People have doubted evolution for hundreds of years, ever since the theory was first hypothesized and people have said just that, for years, "that it's peaked and now declining." It wasn't true then, and it's not true now. It's not going away.

To be honest, that doesn't make sense to me. Shouldn't murder be murder, regardless of the reason and regardless of who commits it? In your opinion, what makes a woman who has an abortion (or multiple abortions) less abhorable than a man who robs a bank and kills several people or a serial killer? Why should one get a life sentence and not the other, if there isn't a value judgement happening, concerning the killer/victims?

The band is not a new procedure, though. Yes, it's only been approved for use in the US relatively recently, but it's been used internationally for years. Speaking as an obese woman who used to be an obese teen, I wish this had been available to me. It could have saved me a LOT of grief over the years. Like other people have said, I would recommend that the OP give her daughter several months to show her that she really is serious about wanting to do this. Take her to seminars, nutrition classes, make her watch the surgery online, make her meet people who have had the surgery. Make sure that she knows EXACTLY what she would be getting into. And if she can show you that she does know, and that she's ready and willing to make the lifestyle changes that are necessary, try and make it happen for her.

From what I understand (don't take this as gospel), insurance will pay for procedures if you have complications because they will be considered "medically necessary." For example, if you have erosion or slippage, they would pay for the removal of the band. This is only if they consider it "medically necessary," though. If the surgery just doesn't work for some reason, and you want the band removed, they won't pay for it. But if you do have complications like slippage or erosion or esophageal dilation, they'll pay.

I can't read more than one book at a time. I make up for it, though, by reading quickly. I can usually finish a standard-length novel (250-300 or so pages) in a few hours, if I do nothing else.

Green tea is supposed to have lots of antioxidants in it. I wouldn't give up drinking all of your water in favor of green tea (mainly because it still has caffeine unless you buy decaf), but it IS good for you. And GOOD green tea is very yummy. If you've ever been to a good Japanese restaurant, you can get very good green tea. (You can tell it's the good stuff when it has the powder in the bottom of the cup.)

Okay, here it is. There are several pages before the evolution talk begins, though. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f80/biblical-case-pro-choice-stem-cell-research-27488/ Ah, brings back memories. It was fun, wasn't it Gadgetlady?

Well, I've been looking for the evolution thread and can't find it. Suffice it to say, there IS a thread somewhere around here that goes through all that we've been talking about and more. It's already been covered.

But I thought that you thought abortion is murder, the taking of an innocent life. Isn't murder abhorable? Since you believe that abortion is murder, what makes it less "abhorable" than any other type of murder? Could it be that you are making a value statement about an aborted fetus, when you say that you "would never, ever "abhor" a woman because she chose to abort?" You know, I continue to find it hilarious when creationists refuse to believe in evolution because "there's not enough evidence." Seriously, it's funny. Why do I think it's so funny? There is far more evidence for evolution than there is for creationism. With creationism, all there is is a book that said God created us and the world. Creationists look at the world around them and say, "Yep, it exists, so the book must be right!" That is NOT evidence of creationism. Yes, I'll admit that there ARE gaps in evolutionary theory. But I DO believe that it will eventually be accepted by more than the scientific community as hard evidence of where we came from. In fact, many of my colleagues refer to evolution as "evolutionary law" instead of "evolutionary theory." So while some of the general public may not accept it yet, the vast majority of science DOES.