anonemouse

Either way, do you really think other people's minds would be changed when people verbally attack them and call them murderers, etc? Or are people more likely to be swayed in their opinions when the person trying to sway them is polite, respectful of the opinions held by the other person, and persuasive? By the way, I am not saying that you attack anyone, Gadgetlady. I think that sometimes you may go a little too far, but at least you aren't calling people murderers for being pro-choice.

And Denise, I just noticed your ticker! You've done so well, losing over a hundred pounds in 8 months! That's definitely good work.

It really, truly is. Keeping someone around for years on life support isn't thinking of them, it's thinking of yourself. If people were really concerned about the quality of life of their loved ones, they'd let them go. I just don't understand why a pet owner can put their pet out of its misery when it gets to a point where there is no quality of life left, yet people can't make that decision for themselves.

I don't know if it's a setting I can change in my CP or not, but what I see is this: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... last page. The numbers between the 10th page and the last page are hidden. Of course, that's just on the forum page, next to the thread title. Once I am in the thread, (take the "right to choose" thread in RnR for example) I get something that looks like 1 2 3 11 > Last>>. If you want to get to page 20, for example, you have to click on several different pages, since on any page you choose, it shows links to the two pages on either side of the page you are on and a link to the page that is 10 pages ahead of the one you are on (for example, if you click 11, it shows links to pages 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 21. That will work, thanks. I had forgotten all about that function. I could have sworn, though, that all the pages in a thread used to be shown on the forum page.

Is there any way we can bring back the full listing of page numbers for the individual threads? It's a little irritating to have to go weed through several pages to find the one you were last on, since the highest options available are "10" and "last page". Especially when there are dozens of pages and several pages have been added since the last time the thread was read.

It's unfortunate that other people don't understand that. But believe me, it is a very welcome change. To be honest, I don't even read Daffodil's posts anymore. They are all the same, condemning everyone who doesn't believe like she does. And not only that, she does it in the most offensive way possible. Hear that, Daffodil? You have lost any chance you ever had to convert pro-choice people on this site to a pro-life stance. No one listens to people that attack them. No one listens to people that openly consider them sub-human. No one is listening to YOU. Become more like Neicyrenee, and people may actually start listening to you and considering your stance. Heck, you may even gain some converts. But as long as you continue to act and post like you do, no one will consider your arguments. Why would they? You don't respect them and you don't respect their position and you don't respect the reasons why they have taken the position they have. So please, like Mark said, if you want to further the pro-choice movement, continue posting in the same style that you have been. Because, heck, you sure aren't doing anything for the pro-life movement.

I will be getting banded on July 3rd, and that will be less than a month before I turn 24 (August 2nd). I want to get my weight under control while I'm young and still relatively healthy. I have PCOS, insulin resistance, asthma, high cholesterol (280 the last time it was checked), a hiatal hernia, etc. I have a high rate of heart disease, heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., on both sides of my family. My mom had to have both knees replaced, mainly due to her obesity. To put it bluntly, if I can't get my weight under control, I'm totally screwed. I view this surgery as a preventative measure.

If you think about it, a lot of the things we do with bodies are incredibly morbid. My mom has made me promise not to allow a visitation when she dies, just because she thinks it's incredibly morbid to be standing around staring at a dead body and talking about them. IMO, this is less morbid than a visitation.

I've heard of it, and I don't doubt that it happens. I think it could be easy to avoid surgeons that do that, though, if the patients really research them ahead of time. Generally, surgeons have bad or good reputations for a reason. Most people don't go around bad-mouthing a surgeon out of spite. I wouldn't be surprised if the surgeons committing fraud were the cheapest docs, with bad reps that would easily be found with just a small amount of research. Unfortunately, in this business, you generally get what you pay for, to an extent.

I know it's small consolation, but your kids WILL get over it. Right now, they're hurt and confused and probably feel like they are being pulled in two different directions. And unfortunately, they are being selfish and attacking the easiest target, which happens to be you. They're teens, that's what they do. Just try to remember that they will eventually come around and will probably feel horrible about the way they are treating you. And until they do, we are all here to support you.

Bungie jumping scares me. One of my goals, when I lose weight, is to go sky diving. For some reason, that's a lot less scary for me than bungie jumping.

I tend to change personalities when I'm online. I'm totally different when I am talking to someone in person. I tend to be very quiet and, to be honest, easily run over. When I get online, it's like I don't have to hide and try to make everyone happy. In person, I tend to start sobbing when I get into face-to-face arguments. It's really quite embarassing. I am just hoping so much that the band will be so successful that it will prove all them wrong.

And before anyone overreacts, I'm not trying to be mean here. It just really gets my goat when people profess to disbelieve a scientific theory/law, but show a basic misunderstanding of what science actually is. To be quite honest, I don't respect those opinions. Now if, on the other hand, someone is well-educated about what they are disagreeing with and still disagree with it, I respect that. Take Gadgetlady, for instance. I completely respect her stance on evolution. I don't agree with it, but I do respect it. She has done her homework. I don't agree with the conclusions she's come to, but I respect the fact that she bothered to find out exactly what she is disagreeing with. She knows the many of the scientific arguments, and she understands them. I respect that. To me, that's a discussion worth having. To me, when the opponent has absolutely no idea what they are actually disagreeing with (i.e., they've never done the research for themselves, as evidenced by their basic misunderstanding of science), it's not worth even discussing the issue.

Seriously, though! You? It really is laughable, considering the quality of the rest of your posts. I can say with utmost confidence that I know more about biology than you. Now, if you were someone with an actual degree in the sciences or even someone who could put up a good pretense of knowing what they were talking about, it would be different. As it is, it's like someone who doesn't know how a fuel-injection engine works telling a mechanic how to do his job. Think about it. What do you do for a living? What would your reaction be if someone who obviously knew zip about what you do started telling you that you didn't know what you were doing? At first, you would probably be offended. After you cooled down, though, you would probably get quite a kick out of it.

You know, I can't get over 396power trying to teach me about biological theory. Seriously, I'm rolling over here! :clap2:

I think my surgeon requires a two-week low-fat/low-carb diet. So, I have another week or so before I have to start it. I'll find out more next Wednesday, when I meet with her.

Which do you want to know? The separate DNA or the separate person? Those are two different things. Logically, the creation of a separate person would entail that the two people are entirely separate (i.e., they can live apart from each other and one does not depend on the other for life).

Yeah, but I've also been trying to get approved since late October. It seemed like it was never going to happen. I kept having problems with the surgeon's office getting all my tests and records, then had to change surgeons because my insurance didn't cover the original one (which I didn't find out until they had submitted everything to insurance), then had lots more problems with the new surgeon's office getting everything and sending my stuff to the correct fax number at the insurance company. I was originally trying to have surgery before the end of last year. Then that changed to before my classes (I'm a grad student) started again in January. And then it changed to having it during Spring Break. Then before the end of the semester. Eventually, I was just hoping to have it done before the end of this summer. I really thought I was not going to be able to do it, though, since my surgeon was supposed to go on maternity leave. Plus, I was having to fight with the surgeon's office to get the surgery scheduled before my insurance policy was going to change (which is on August 2). Luckily, they FINALLY came through. I'm starting to get a tad nervous, but it's so much less stress now that I know it will actually be happening.

As a scientist, I respectfully disagree. Science does NOT point to a creator. And as a scientist, I've learned to disregard the opinions of people who say "evolution is just a theory." It shows that they know nothing about science and probably nothing about evolutionary theory. Let me let you in on a little secret: A scientific "theory" and a common-language "theory" aren't the same thing. A scientific theory is backed up by lots and lots of evidence. Otherwise, it would be called a hypothesis. A common-language "theory" has basically the same definition as "idea." It's a possible solution, with little or no evidence supporting it. A common-language "theory" is the same as the scientific "hypothesis." Evolution isn't called "the hypothesis of evolution." It's called "the theory of evolution."

The daughter/sister of the surgeons is a member of OH, and she says that there is at least one lap-band episode coming up.

I disagree with you. And I think that the scientists that I am around on a daily basis would disagree with you, also. Scientists are unified about when the potential for future life begins. Obviously, that would be when a sperm penetrates an egg. They aren't unified on when that life begins, though. Because that's a part of life. We decide another person's value all the time. Civil suits, criminal cases, media, etc. It is decided all the time. Yeah, it would be nice if the world wasn't like it is, if people weren't like they are. But it is, and they are.

And your wording of "completely separate being" is actually key to a point I would like to make. Is a being really "completely separate" when it has to be incubated by another being to survive? If a fetus were truly a "completely separate being," it would be able to survive outside its mother's womb. It can't, therefore, it isn't.

Apparently not, since a lot of scientists can't agree about when life begins. It's NOT very clear when life begins, otherwise, there wouldn't be a huge controversy over abortion.

True, but knowing something is bad doesn't stop anyone from still doing it. We all knew that eating the way we used to would make us fat, which would then make us more likely to have diabetes, heart disease, etc. We still did it. This is a one-time thing. I've never done it before and I'll probably not do it again, but I really feel like I have little choice about it. I burn whenever I tan outside (not to mention, I usually get truckdriver/farmer tans). I turn orange when I use fake tanners. Right now, I am very pale. I am not someone that looks attractive when I'm pale, and I would like to look attractive in my brother's wedding pictures.

Very true. I don't know how many people with obvious piercings and wildly colored hair would apply to somewhere like the Ritz-Carlton, though. This is one of the situations where I go back and forth. On one hand, I think that companies should hire the best-qualified person to do the job, regardless of what they look like. On the other, what makes these people different is something they can easily change. It isn't something completely intrinsic to them that is being rejected. So I can see where it wouldn't be considered discrimination.