Skeptical

She's good-looking, but a pretty mediocre singer, even measured by the standards of popular culture. Her lyrics make me sick with sheer quantity of whining.

"I Choke" - Ektomorf

Having a great idea, not being able to write it down, and then promptly forgetting about it. I also tend to make it worse by agonizing over it for hours on end, if I felt that it was a particularly worthwhile stroke of inspiration.

Vegetarian does not automatically = soy. :thumbdown: And saying that there is any specific food men shouldn't eat is ridiculous. :thumbdown: - Gynecomastia (man boobs) - Decrease in libido - Mood swings - Weight gain (particularly around the waist) - Decreased sperm count - Erectile dysfunction And that's just the start. Phytoestrogens are evil for men, but beneficial for women (at least in moderate quantities). My problem is that the majority of vegetarians tend to replace real meat (not including McDonald's burgers and hotdogs) with crap like soy "protein" and then insist that requiring supplements is not the sign of an unhealthy diet.

How would a criminal know if there is a gun in the house? They wouldn't. And letting people possess something dangerous is a scary path: why can't they just possess bombs, or booby traps? That would scare the crap out of anyone considering a B&E. Also, I want to see the source from the above statistics, if you don't mind.

Can't stop the signal, but you can sure hurt a lot of people trying.

Sorry, wut? Your post their would imply that I follow a religion, which I do not, I am Agnostic. The problem I have with Militant's of any religion as that by deffinition, in my eyes anyway, they go too far. Militant Christians led "Holy Crusades", Militant Islamic groups are currently a source of turbulence to the safety of the World in general and Militant Athiests seem to think that they've got it all figured out so it's okay for them to harass all religions as they see fit. Just because they have a lack of faith does not mean they need to instill such ignorance in others. The only reason I mentioned Athiests in particular was because most people would probably overlook them entirely. Absolutely. I pride myself on not standing by while evil acts are committed. I will not tolerate discrimination against myself or others, or the abuse of any human being, if I can prevent it. Religion is not just incorrect. If it was merely incorrect, I wouldn't have much of a problem with it: more of something along the lines of eye-rolling and exasperation. But it is evil.

There is an evolutionary interest in preventing the deaths of others in your species. We find the death of other humans easily related to, and can justify that however we want.

Canadian soldiers were baddass, it's just that we didn't have enough to send due to lack of conscription. They were considered "shock troops" in WWI, and took Juno beach in WWII.

Whenever I eat a pineapple I look stupid, but that's generally because I injure myself when attempting to gain access to it's sweet, juicy insides.

Huh, never heard of it before. Looks cool, but I'll stick to biking.

Nope. How does a potential invader know a gun is in the house? And it doesn't matter if many do: all he's looking for is a house that is least likely to have a means of defending itself. If you've ever had a dog, then you know how sensitive they are: establish with them what their territory is, and they will both alert you to any unwanted presence, and if trained to do so, defend it. I'm sure a ridiculously small number of dogs have some form of brain damage, which could trigger violence, although it is amazingly unlikely, I'm sure.

A gun doesn't scare a criminal away. And I have no statistics to back it up, but I strongly suspect that most dogs would stop after incapacitating: it's not a predatory assault; they don't intend to eat their opponent.

To 20Rice, I am a militant atheist. You just happen to believe that you can blast one religion, while pretending that the one that you follow is any different. All religion by definition is a cult: "cult: (followers of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices) " Source I'm actually quite fond of good old scientology: it raises quite the interesting question: what qualifies a religion? A good few years ago, a group of people wrote the bible. It's still hanging around. Why didn't people decry it the way they do the followers of this harmless faith? After all, they've never protested abortion, committed murders, molested children... probably a good bit of financial crime, but how does that compare to the incomparable harm committed by the three major mono-theistic religions that we somehow believe are special?

Only is you abuse them. I nominate that post for TIF's stupidest post of the year. Look at the death toll: http://washingtonceasefire.org/resource-center/national-firearm-injury-and-death-statistics 65 THOUSAND. And all because a few people don't understand statistics, or the effect that the booming bark and 300lbs of bite pressure have. Ever been bitten by a dog? Ever seen wild dogs take down prey? Ever seen a police dog tackle a suspect? My father was pulled off a bicycle and left with half-inch deep incisions by a dog that weighed only a few pounds more than a cat. An elderly great dane crashed into me once and knocked me half unconscious, entirely on accident. That dog could shred tires. Our family's dog (a roddy) could squash lacrosse balls and once scared off a full grown bear. This dog can go just about anywhere with you, cannot be used against you, and will defend your family literally to the death.

Reading The Hobbit to my younger brother (~10 years old) and I have to say that I'm glad he enjoys it as well: it was originally what turned me on to fantasy. I think he's a bit young for LOTR yet, so I was planning to read him the [Farsala/i] trilogy by Hilari Bell next. Anyone have any suggestions, or any comments to add to that?

Public schools, and the majority of private ones, I can assure everyone here, are entirely broken. The system is sickened, corrupted, whatever you want to label it as, it is a destructive force.

In response to essentially the last three pages: Morality is a human construct. The idea that something is right or wrong is not anything innate. A desire to protect other members of our species is usually only extended to the weak, young, old, and female... interesting pattern there concerning evolutionary advantage, is there not?

He called himself the Kurt Cobain of his generation. If that doesn't justify his expulsion from the continent, I don't know what does. He's an insult to music, Canada, teenage boys, and the musical tastes of young females.

Protest the Hero - Goddess Bound

I've got to say that I enjoy Wendy's and Subway, but it's far to expensive to eat there more than a few times a year, in my opinion. I mean, a salad is like $9 now. I can get a pre-made one twice that size at the grocery store, and still have some change leftover.

I'm in high school. In return for my continued attendance in the program, I am provided with food, clothing, shelter, and a good deal more. If being paid for a form of work is not a job, I'm not quite clear on what qualifies as a job.

It's about making it HARDER to purchase large quantities of ammunition. They could also smuggle it into the country, but that would make it just a wee bit harder to go on a shooting spree, wouldn't it? And keeping a shotgun is a great idea, as long as you don't mind it being stolen, or used by someone who breaks in. Guess what, that scary black man that broke into your house now has a gun. Where do you think the weapons that are on the streets come from? As for effectiveness, even my grandfather, how owned guns, knew it was stupid to keep them at home. Some drunk kid ends up in the wrong house? Someone in your family sleepwalking? You starting to see things? You can keep a shotgun at home, but you should be liscence for it, have to pass a background check, etc. Want to keep your house safe? Buy a dog.

Finished Slaughter-house 5. It was certainly a strange book. I wouldn't say that I enjoyed it all that much, but I have to say that I did read it in less than 48 hours, and didn't have to coerce myself into it at all. Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy was good, but I think is was overrated. I'm willing to bet that without it, there would be no Futurama or Spaceballs, though. I highly recommend Michael Pollan to the above poster. Your local library doesn't have a copy of any of his books? Next, Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, and No One Left to Lie To: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton. I'll probably read Brave New World again in celebration of banned book week.

Men should not eat soy.