BJean

I wholeheartedly disagree with your characterization of women suffering emotionally and psychologically after having an abortion. I believe that some women do suffer, but it is not the norm. We seldom hear from the ones who survive emotionally and psychologically because they have had an abortion. I also believe that there are humane people who perform abortions. They are not all bad people. And that's a fact.

Actually I think that this is definitely the most talented season ever. I wouldn't be surprised if the Archuleta performance was done to change it up a little. His shy, sweet little awe, shucks, toe twisting in the sand routine was already getting old to me. I think he is really great and has such an interesting tone in his voice, but I do think that he needed to do something to keep from being so totally predictably perfect. The little country girl thing was not awful to me. Not good, but tolerable. But then there's a whole lot of country music that goes on here in Texas. I've heard worse from the pros. Can't wait to see what they do tonight! By the way, I think Carly has a great voice, but I am bothered by her ultra strained expression at times. Brooke is one of the most unique talents in a while. And Chickeezee and the girl rocker were both very entertaining. I have liked Chickeezee from the very beginning. I hope he can continue to have unique and good performances. Although I enjoy the girl rocker (Cruella) I don't think she can hold on too much longer. She's gotta get much stronger to win people over.

I avoid the news and newspapers because of all the horrific and negative stories and pictures. There are insane people everywhere. I don't do research on serial killers ether. I try to avoid all of the insanity because I have learned that it is very unhealthy for me to dwell on such things. I'm not trying to live in denial, I just can't handle extreme cases of bad behavior done by bad people.

tink, both you and LBloom8R have incredibly wonderful ways of stating your views. I have nothing but respect for both of you. Our life experiences and our religious beliefs have undoubtedly had a huge impact on our opinions of this topic. The fact that we have such strong feelings and the fact that we each, in our own way, have that push to do what we believe is right and fair with regard to this topic, makes it no surprise that even though this thread has gone on for such a long time, we still feel it is important to respond to someone who we believe is off base. I have compassion for the person who said, "shut up" because he shares some of my views and I can completely understand how he became so upset that he may have thrown respect and good taste out the window for a moment. I was surprised that anyone found the comment that horrific. I've read much, much worse in the heat of battle here and elsewhere. So my earlier comments were because I just didn't think that the "shut up" remark was all that personal. But then, children these days are taught by many that saying "shut up" is akin to using curse words. I grew up differently. As kids, we all told each other to shut up, especially in a joking manner. We never truly expected each other to shut up and we didn't mean it as a personal attack. I do agree that there should be rules of good taste that are adhered to, but there will always be those who do not go by the rules. I just don't think that we should be concerned with posts that are not respectful and I don't think we should take it upon ourselves to correct others' posts. But that's just me trying to be extremely tolerant of passionate people. I guess I'd rather see a rude post than have everyone tippy toe around each other to the point that discussions become artificial and without feeling. Just my $.02 - not worth that much, I'm sure.

I have to respectfully say that tripod was just expressing his (or her?) opinion too. It is Rants 'n Raves, afterall, and sometimes some posters have such inflamatory and offensive ways of expressing their very biased views, they're practically begging for an aw... "shut up" response. I think it just slips out, as if we were speaking face to face. We might want to take it back but it's too late. That's the whole point of this site, we don't have to take stuff back, we can rant and rave and slug it out all we want. No one is forced to participate in any way. Thanks very much for your kind words tink. I do enjoy Rants 'n Raves even though I can become way too passionate sometimes and go overboard. This is a subject that is very important to me - as important as it is to those who have the other viewpoint, like you and LBloom. I find it impossible to NOT participate, in fact. I'm drawn back into this thread almost every week. Nothing really changes, but I can't help myself. I witnessed too much heartbreak and insanity when abortion was illegal. I can't abide the idea of women having politicians and others make decisions for them about their lives and those of their unborn children.

I figured that Michael from Australia was sweating and extremely nervous because he didn't particularly like the song he'd chosen. I hadn't really thought about him being truly sick. But that certainly makes sense. Took my dogs to the groomer this morning and the receptionist has that horrible flu and brought it to her co-workers and me! If I get that junk, I'm going to sneeze on her. I guess I'm kidding. They say it's really a bad one.

Gosh I hope so. Most of the 80's song choices really sucked as far as I'm concerned. Aisa'h performance wasn't bad, she just didn't bring anything original to the show. Seemed like we'd been there, seen that. She had a very cute personality and good voice though and I think in one of the years past, she wouldn't have been eliminated so early.

Best of luck to you Angel, on your journey to "band land"

Good point! The way things are manipulated online, nothing would surprise me.

I had a tuck, hysterectomy and 2 hernia repairs at once. Believe me I had a pity party! I kept asking myself what I was thinking to have all of that done at once. Believe us, it does get better. It just takes longer than any other surgery you may have experienced. The scar looks pretty gruesome early on, so it's hard to get excited about that. And the swelling makes you feel like you haven't improved yourself as much as you thought you would - believe me, you'll be glad you did it when you're over the worst part. When they tell you not to do too much, they aren't kidding. Take care with everything you do and move slowly, no sudden stops and starts. It will pay off if you don't rush yourself. Just expect to feel lousy for a while and before you know it, you'll think back to immediately post-op and you'll realize how much you've improved! We're thinking of you!!! Hang in there girl!!

Boy you're right: Brooke and Carly couldn't be more different and they're both really good! I have a feeling that David A.'s sweet, coy little boy persona is going to get a little tiresome. His voice is awesome but he sounds a little hoarse when he talks so I'm wondering if he's going to run out of gas somewhere along the line. Did anyone else notice the Aussie's sweat last week?

kat: You can't imagine all the types of mental diversion or aversion therapies I have tried. Did you ever read Dr. Phil's book on losing weight? Geez, you're so busy doing all the stuff he commands you to do that there's no way that you'd have time for a meal plus the way he presents it, you'd be a total nincompoop if you kept binge eating. Unfortunately I am not that easily insulted or intimidated and I am very hard to retrain. As many have pointed out about drugs/alcohol vs. food addictions, it is somewhat easier to avoid drugs and alcohol than food. You have to plan for and eat food and it seems that our social lives are centered around food, even at church functions. Angel: I sure don't discount genetics when it comes to overeating. I am definitely not convinced whether true obesity is caused from learned behavior (handed down through family lifestyle) or actual genetic predisposition. When you consider the studies done with twins who were separated at a very early age, they've found that identical twins often have become adults with very similar weights and proclivities for certain foods. That would indicate that genetics may play a larger role than just environment. There may be recent updates about these types of studies, but I haven't kept up with them. Have you?

If your hair is falling out, everyone says to take Biotin. That's what I started taking and it definitely worked. Those pills are smallish, slender and easy to get down.

Georgia you are so right! I actually agreed all the way around with the eliminiations last night. Did you? I really find Luke attractive and if he had the right song, I'd love his singing, but he was not the best singer and the other guy has a good voice, but his stage presence was lacking. Both of the girls that were elminated have good voices, but their performances and stage presence were lacking too. I think we have the best group of final 12 that they've ever had. Unlike some people here, I don't think that the guys are a lot better than the girls. I think they're pretty even at this point. Now things are going to get fun!

Crosby: Man a cure for addiction would be fantastic. I was watching a movie on TV the other night and one of the female characters walked in the door from rehab, glanced over at a bottle of alcohol and the look she got on her face, that look of wanting that drink, needing that drink and how it made her feel, was exactly how I feel when I see or think about ice cream. Man, it was scary for me. She left the room and gave herself a chance to think about it, but rushed back over and poured herself drink within a few minutes. My behavior to a T! I'd like to believe all the hype that binge eating is something we can overcome by understanding that it's just calories in and calories out and if we like ourselves enough and wish to be thin, we will burn more than we eat. Well, it isn't that simple and if it were, people wouldn't be overweight if they didn't want to be. Millions of us don't want to be overweight anymore than alcoholics want to be dysfunctional because of drinking or anorexics do because of not eating. If some researcher can figure that part of the equation out, maybe there would be a chance for a cure.

Paula definitely knows how to get press. It was embarrassing for some of the contestants last night though. Can you imagine being a contestant and trying to carry the momentum through the performance and critique session so that when they show the number to vote, you'll want to vote for her. I thought Simon and Paula were quite the distractors and incredibly rude to a couple of the girls. On the other hand, it's what we seem to like. It's entertainment and it's one of the most popular shows on TV. They are not stupid and the judges behavior last night makes me wonder if it was by design not only to be entertaining, but to have a very specific influence on the voting.Whatdaya think?

That's cool. I'll bet you have to deal with the other stuff partially because you have to plow through all that to get to the bones - at least on some of us! :-) I've never been to a chiropractic physician but my acupuncturist (who is also a medical doctor) had a brother who was a chiropractic physician and he had a thriving practice and was very well-respected in our town. I'm sure you are too. I know you are at LBT! By the way... my neck has been bothering me a lot... can you tell me.... uh?? Just kidding! :thumbup:

Oh yeah, Orlando Bloom, definitely!! Whoo-hoo!

Zoe- are you selling products or recommending products? Or both? It makes a big difference in how "helpful" a post is considered to be.

Is Luke the gorgeous one with the very high voice? He's really made some bad song choices. His voice is really unique though and I'd like to hear him do something that is well suited to his voice. I do think that he's in peril of being kicked off. I thought Chakeezie was good last night. I'm not sure he'll make it through tonight either though. I usually agree with Simon's constructive criticism, but he's sure said some insulting stuff with this group. I'm not sure that hurling mind-numbing insults is very constructive. Or then again, maybe it is. Maybe that's what it takes to get the very best performances out of 'em. It's painful to watch though.

Jack, are you a doctor or medical professional of some kind?

Oops, I mean tomorrow night?

Who's gonna go tonight?

I found some Omega 3 Fish Oil capsules that are pretty tiny. You have to take 2 of them twice a day, but if you're concerned about the size of the regular ones, I got them at Walgreen's. I figured out that the large ones, although they looked formidable, aren't really that hard to get down. The outer coating is slick. And I am not one who likes to take pills of any kind and I sometimes have problems getting pills down. Not because of the band... I've been this way since I was a child. My mom used to have to crush baby aspirin! Then they invented liquid Tylenol. Oops. I think that's like saying I was here when they invented dirt. On a health radio talk show the other day I heard that if fish oil capsules taste fishy or "repeat" on you, there's a good chance that they have not been stored properly, either in transit or at the store where you bought them, or by you. They say you need to buy them as fresh as possible and then freeze them, although I don't freeze mine because my DH and I both take them and they don't last long.

Yeah, me too!!!! It's pretty obvious it's a sham. Sort of got some of us spun up trying to help. What a waste of perfectly good advice... :thumbdown: