ThurinEthir

Eh. If I didn't know better I would assume you were Asian. But it's rather strange. My parents don't care at all about my grades. I care more than they do. I suppose getting good grades is its own reward. I can sympathize though. My sister has been getting lousy grades for the past two years and all my parents have done is yell at her. She used to get good grades though, and I have good grades, yet we've never been congratulated for it. Not like it really matters if you get straight A's in middle school, but still... I wonder how I place in my class. :-k

I've actually considered it. I'm not old enough now, but someday, maybe. I'm with ya there Lent. It's great having all this uber-awesome technology and all, but I'd love to have lived during the Age of Exploration. Or even before. And seeing as how ignorance is bliss, it's not like I would know about the benefits of life now. It's rather amusing though. If you knew me in real life, especially if you don't really know my personality, I would be the last person you'd expect to want to do something like this.

Walden Pond is actually fairly close to where I live. :) I think that I could actually last for a good length of time without any other humans, as long as I have something to keep me occupied. Of course, it's not like I would be able to bring my laptop or something out into the middle of nowhere...(And no, I wouldn't need/want internet) But if I could I totally would. Getting away from all the distractions of life is something I do somewhat often. Over February break, my youth group has a retreat, out to a camp in the middle of nowhere in New Hampshire. And there are some nearby woods I like to go to once in a while. As for the adventure aspect? It'd sure be fun. But I'd be too paranoid. And lazy. Exploring is something I like to do though.

Ah, I understand. There's really not much more I can say without being ridiculously repetitive. I'll ask just one last question - If you had to choose between your life and a baby-you-didn't-want's life, which would you choose? Your selfless values are great, I have a feeling you'd save the latter. But not everyone thinks like you do, plenty of people would choose their life. :|

That part confused me. Did they say why? Because they might have been completely fine with having a gay child, just worried about everything their child might have to go through. Obviously they were accepting or they wouldn't have been in a video. Perhaps the displeasure was at society and not their child. I admit I didn't really pay attention, but from what I gather, there was some sort of "flashback" of the kid telling his mom and the mom breaking down into tears and yelling "NOOOOOO". I'd assume that even if that was the case, they eventually became accepting. Even the most fundamental people would probably accept their child for who they are after a few years. And murderers aren't accepted and embraced. Usually. :?

So you expect mothers who can't support a baby to have it anyway? And then without enough money and/or time, slowly kill herself and her baby? And just to be picky, if you had to choose between killing a child or five hundred people, and you chose the five hundred, would that not be justified? Also, last time I checked, up there with the right to life is the right to the pursuit of happiness. I know one's rights usually end where another's begin, but having an unwanted baby can restrict the mother's ability to pursue happiness. No, I would chose the 500. But if it was a choice between a baby and myself, I would chose myself. That is a much more accurate analogy of what abortion really is. You seriously would kill 500 people to save one random baby? (If it was your own baby, which I didn't mean it to be, then I'd understand...) And okay, so aren't you kind of contradicting yourself? As you put it (Unless I misinterpreted it?), a mother considering abortion is choosing between herself and her baby. If you're allowed to choose yourself, why can't the mother? (I remember a few pages back you said that you agreed that if a mother/family couldn't support the baby, they could put it up for adoption. So this might be completely pointless...Eh)

I agree that love and acceptance really should take priority over whatever wrongs one may have done. (Though I definitely don't believe homosexuality is wrong) Jesus was pretty accepting of sinners, so I really don't see why any Christian should have a problem accepting homosexuals if they believe it to be a sin. I wonder how my parents would react if I told them I was gay. Hm.

So you expect mothers who can't support a baby to have it anyway? And then without enough money and/or time, slowly kill herself and her baby? And just to be picky, if you had to choose between killing a child or five hundred people, and you chose the five hundred, would that not be justified? Also, last time I checked, up there with the right to life is the right to the pursuit of happiness. I know one's rights usually end where another's begin, but having an unwanted baby can restrict the mother's ability to pursue happiness.

Is it bad that I seriously thought you said "stool" and "dysentery"? And no, I'm not trying to be random. I seriously thought that. I suppose I'm rather immature, that'd explain it. It's not society's definition of random, and I doubt it's the dictionary definition either, but I tend to plan things out ahead of time, then ditch my plan somewhere along the road and just wing it from there. Hm, that too. I make weird connections, but they are by no means random because they make sense to me... I sometimes do try to confuse people on purpose though. Confucian, confusing, same thing...

That's kind of my view. If the mother/family has a good (And I mean good) reason to abort, then I find absolutely nothing wrong with it. If a couple has unprotected sex, and decides they don't want a baby a few months later (...Or if they're just that stupid), then no. However, if a couple has safe sex, and really does try to avoid a pregnancy, I'd let that slide. You can't really compare abortion to flat-out murder, simply because murderers generally can easily live with their victim. Like I said...Mothers sometimes can't live with the burden of a child. Sometimes it'd just be suicide for both of them.

I wouldn't be too sure about that. We had to watch a video about sexual orientation in sex ed, and they interviewed a bunch of parents who had homosexual kids, and all the parents said was that when they found out, they wished it wasn't so. That obviously doesn't mean that they're fundamental Christians or anything like that, but it gives the impression that they'd rather not have a homosexual child, most likely have taught their child some negative things about homosexuality, yet their child ends up gay. Though I agree that a good deal of it is influence, if not genetic. (Which it could be, who knows) However, religion is also heavily influence, yet many kids with religious parents end up atheist.

Water is basically the only thing I drink...(I carry a bottle around with me everywhere. Eh.) Though I suppose boba tea is good. Or red tea.

Isn't that kind of what parenting is? Having the life of a child in your hands? Especially for someone who can't think for themselves, it really is up to the parent to decide... And it's so wonderful how you think everyone has an equal chance in life. If only, if only...

I second this. A couple semesters ago I had a lot of presentations to give in the period of a few weeks all on subject matter I really enjoyed learning about. The first presentation I was nervous as hell, but with each one I became more comfortable and knew enough to easily answer any questions. Actually, I've heard that after you've done it enough times it becomes addicting, although that might be more for academic presentations. Agreed. I've gone through a good deal of piano recitals. Though I've screwed up on just about every single one, I've learned a thing or two. After playing a piece enough times, I can play it subconsciously. It just...Feels natural for my fingers to flow that way. So at the recital, I relax, don't focus on it too much, and just play. Practice does make perfect...Almost. I doubt this is true for public speaking though, which I absolutely suck at. I've maybe given two good oral reports in my life. It just isn't my thing, though I don't think it's a coincidence that the day before one of my good presentations, I spent a lot of time practicing. But don't focus on it too much. (And yes, the best motivation is from within. You'll nearly always do better if you enjoy what you're talking about, or what you're playing. That's definitely why I've been doing better at piano lately, I actually like what I play now)

If a mother has barely enough money to support herself, how do you expect her to support a baby? I've assumed we've just been debating abortion in general. And once again, if a mother can barely support herself, she can't support a baby. Life at an adoption center isn't fun and games. Like I said, I don't know much about it, but I'd imagine the conditions are okay, but by no means great. And I tried doing some quick research, apparently about 25% of children put up for adoption are never adopted. You could argue that it's better than being dead, which it may very well be. I dunno. Alright then. I kind of agree with you there. At a personal level, at least. Some people aren't bound by religious ideals though, so it doesn't matter one bit to them. If they want to have "unholy" sex, you can't stop them. And if you want to punish them for it, well, I refer you to the "Religious Politics" thread. :| @Y_Guy...Good. At least we agree on something. ;) (And I feel like saying it again, I know next to nothing about the adoption process, but I view it as a viable alternative to abortion)

What about the mother? If she doesn't want the child, or is incapable (for whatever reason) of raising it, then her life will most likely be messed up. Maybe even ruined. Adoption is questionable, I don't know too much about it. But then there still is the pain of childbirth, as well as those cases in which the mother literally risks her life to give birth. The thing with the Hitler analogy is that Hitler could have lived with the Jews. The mother may not be able to live with the baby. (So if the mother is perfectly capable of raising the child - As in her life is not as risk, she has the money to do so, and the time to do so, I would be against any abortion.)

Haha, apparently American infrastructure got graded a D. Anyway. Otherwise, America really is not much different from any other first world western country. It's by no means perfect, but it definitely does not suck.

Something a bit more abnormal. It's based off the plot of the Lord of the Rings, except...it's a D&D game. So since he's done with it, no, he's not continually adding more strips, but he's working on other projects I think.

Unless there is a state religion (Which there generally isn't in the west?), separation of church and state is ideal. It's usually fine if the leader's morals stem from religion, and then he uses those morals to rule, but doing something "because the Bible says so" is just stupid.

You mean my quiz? It was an actual physical quiz for school (about Japanese history), and seeing as I have a snow day today and my teacher takes forever to grade, I doubt I'm getting it back any time soon.

Exactly. And exactly. By banning abortion, you're condemning a good deal of babies/children to harsh lives. Either that or they'll be spoiled sick. And neither is good. It should always be a choice, to be honest. A choice for the "mother" and a choice for the doctor (If he/she doesn't want to perform it, find someone who will. Unless you live in a place with a ton of religious fanatics, it really shouldn't be hard...). As for parents, I don't know. Having them know but not allowing them a say would be ideal, but it simply wouldn't work. Anyway, good for Obama.

Your body cant grow well if you go to the gym in ages 12-14 Though he is kind of right that he's probably too young to be thinking about gaining weight. Your early teenage years are basically there to screw with your BMI. A lot of teenagers have very fast metabolisms, and nearly all will have growth spurts. This means your height goes up, your weight doesn't. But then you'll stop growing that fast, and your weight will be able to catch up.

It gets different in high school. She's preparing you for college and I say good for her. Teachers don't care about you unless you care enough to do things on your own and work extra hard. Seriously, if you expect high school and college to be as easy as middle school, then well...You're going to be surprised. But I'm lucky. At least this year. After slightly altering my schedule, all my teachers are amazing. I get very little homework, and I have good grades - I suppose it's because my school is stupid and only allows one honors class for freshmen (Math, and I'm in the sophomore class for that...[/arrogance]), but eh. Still lucky. Though my French teacher (Before I switched out) had some issues. She made four kids cry in the few months I was there. There were five Asian kids in my class (Only two are there now :P ), and all of us were quiet. Since she focuses a ton on participation and speaking (Which I understand), she got annoyed by this, and said something along the lines of "WHAT THE MATTER WITH YOU. DO YOU NOT SPEAK IN CHINA. IS THAT WHY YOU ASIAN SO QUIET. OH I KNOW. IF YOUR EYES ARE SMALL YOU DON'T SPEAK." ...Then someone so nicely says "Um, he's [referring to me] Taiwanese, not Chinese..." "SAME THING. I DON'T CARE." Yeah. If I cared more about the Taiwan Strait conflict, I might have went apemonkey on her. But nah, I didn't care much. I kept quiet. Oh the irony. But then someone rats her out to the principal, she gets pissed. She then lectures us on racism and political correctness, and says "I was born in the Congo, I CAN'T be racist. I'm European, I CAN'T be racist. I KNOW MORE THAN YOU SO SUCK IT UP."

Some of my classes at school feel like wasted time. I'm talking about classes like physical education. Don't get me wrong, I understand that there are people who really need to exercise (And I suppose I'm one of them). But it's not like we do anything...I was actually using this to apply to Chinese school the other day - If I'm going to do something, I want to get something about of it. My Chinese teacher this year absolutely sucks, I learn absolutely nothing, so I'd say the three hours I spend weekly is a waste. And my math teacher earlier this year was horrible. She was a terrible teacher, and I was out for a week. I studied the stuff on my own (~15-20 minutes a day, opposed to 60 minutes per class), and the day I get back, I take a test, with the rest of the class. I end up with an A. But then there are actually good teachers at my school. I don't feel like those classes are a waste - I may not learn much, I may not learn anything that will really help me in life - But at least I get something out of it. And I actually like to learn. (So I suppose I agree with Lenticular. Learning/education is definitely not a waste, it may very well be one of the things I enjoy most. But school can easily be a waste) And I agree with warri0r. If it weren't for school I doubt I would know I love math. And unless your school is literally a jail (And mine comes close, we don't even have windows), there should be some fun. Spending time with friends really isn't a waste, unless you're doing something stupid. (...Or doing nothing at all) On the other hand, I regret a good deal of the things I do, but I wouldn't really call that a waste. As long as I get something out of it, I wouldn't consider anything a waste.

So I took a history quiz, and I never would have thought the Age of Empires would help me in life. I mean, it's not like this quiz means anything, but there was a question to which the answer was "Yamato", and apparently I'm one of the few people to get it right. Then I started a new piece for piano, from my mom's request. It's the piece that's played on Taiwanese garbage trucks (...Don't ask. It's like the equivalent of The Entertainer/ice cream trucks, I guess), so I heard it just about every day of my childhood. And it's like the only song my grandma knows, so when I can play it well I'm supposed to record it and send it to her. When I got home I went for a run in my basement. I rolled up my sleeves + pants, and it felt pretty nice. It was like 10 F outside, and I doubt it was much warmer down there. It's supposed to snow tomorrow, and I have my math midterm, and apparently my physics midterm. (Could've sworn it was on Thursday, but everyone says it's tomorrow. #-o ) A snow day/delay would be nice. :