plain

Still, I don't like "mandatory". Seems vaguely un-American. Also, the bureaucrats could use that very argument to micromanage our lives. No smoking, drinking, recreational drugs, have an acceptable BMI, no unsafe sex, no speeding tickets / seatbelt violations........all these behaviors contribute towards society's "health costs" in some way. Yet I still don't believe it's government's place to step in and make these personal choices for us "for the good of society"

Eh, they'd probably find her. Yeeeesh. Pleurisy can be very painful. If you have access to a stethoscope, listen to his lungs. Pleurisy sounds like old leather creaking!! Also, it can be difficult to get the anti-inflammatories to the pleural space. I feel for him. Man, they like to have a little notice, don't they? "Remember Tap, we're going to need your vacation request for 2012 by the end of this month" Lulu, since it's your ranch, just set a date. That way, tap can ask off, and everybody else can be working on their calanders. Those unhappy with the date....see ya next year (like how I've already made it an annual thing?). Or they can spend an extra 3 hours and come visit me in Texarkana. The locals don't bite.....usually.

Ah, but see....in those cases you DO have a choice. If you don't want to pay car insurance, don't drive. If you don't want to pay home owner's insurance, live in an apartment. But how do you get around mandatory life insurance requirements, besides don't live? Also, you may think that somebody else's smoking doesn't affect you, but it will. So will overeating. So will any "risky" behaviour, once the government steps into healthcare, in the form of increased taxes to pay for the medical conditions that all these things cause.

Or Mitt Romney could be elected and get 43 czars to advise him! Many without proper "vetting" from the FBI! Let's do it! Oh. My. God. Way to keep it intellectual. BJean doesn't understand what drives middle America, Patty. That's why she's scared. So, choice of smoking is ok, but choice of not having insurance is not? Hmmmmmm..... Look, either the President needs to admit that illegals will be covered with a "don't ask, don't tell" citizenship requirement, or admit that, without coverage, the millions of illegals will still recieve their care in the ER's, negating much of the "savings" of this plan. Katklaws is back! I wondered where you were hiding!

I think people are blurring the lines here. There is such a thing as a conservative, and there are nutjobs. There are also liberals, and there are nutjobs. Being a member of one group doesn't mandate being in the other. If you think "he's a conservative.....must be violent", or "she's a liberal....must be crazy"....then you're at best simple-minded, and at worst already in nutjob territory. Mmmmm, here is where we diverge, kartman. I could not disagree more. Ever occur to you that maybe the Southern Poverty Law Center is a decidedly liberal organization and skewers the numbers? I don't know if they do or not, but I'd consider the possibility before I started down the goofy road of "conservative = hater". I still disagree with you about the public option. I would be a little less skeptical if lawmakers tried a "test market" first. Look at Maine and Tennesee....their attempts at universal care increased costs dramatically.

Kartman, haven't you read BJean and Cleo's mom? The evil republicans are the ones standing in the way here. BTW, off topic, but I saw your progress pics while moderating the B&A forum. Fantastic progress! back on topic - I had my usual lengthy rebuttal typed out but the computer (or LBT) ate it, so I'm contenting myself with this post. *heavy sigh*

But is it a felony? But sometimes it's the only recourse one has left when trying to "debate" the obtuse.....debate = you present your side, then I present mine, preferably mentioning and systematically refuting the first side's arguement. Then repeat. If I give my side, and you throw in a bunch of totally unrelated stuff, not much of a debate.

Ok. You got me. I say it loud, and I say it often. It's all part of the "neocon's strategy guide to ensure America's doom". Page 14. I hope that, by repeating it often enough, I will eventually brainwash the entire nation. Hopefully, even though I'm not currently a member of the wealthy ruling class, I'll be rewarded for being a good lackey and spreading misinformation.

Reconcile as in combine. What I get from zen is how to live in the right now, and be aware of everything. It's a very introspective line of thought. Nothing in the precepts of Christ contradicts absorbing a philosophy, per se (IMO). Supposedly, the Buddha develpoed his philosophies observing the suffering of others.....but I've read up on the philosophy, not so much on the man. Maybe any other Buddhists on here could fill in some blanks for Patty?

Ok, so I took a day off work, and , coupled with the long weekend, resulted in roughly 8000 pages of PJTP.....so this will be a looooong response. It'll make HF's and tap's look really brief (kidding!). Quit talking about me. I don't know if that even is technically possible with this setup. But that's the good part! Yeah.....maybe Alex could make such a "room". I ain't a-moderating it, though!!! click "ignore". Person vanished!! (kinda) I make those kinds of wishes daily. Her account is de-activated, so now maybe everything can get back to normal. Glouc admitted to me (secretly, in a PM) that when she saw that vending machine, it had my "shimmering face....thus the "temptation. Of course, she'll probably deny saying this, since she's so shy & stuff :ohmy: My siren just went off. Oh.....false alarm AGAIN. Wait 'till I post the mid-80's "shorty shorts" pics of my youth. Then I will truly be sharing "all". I'm looking squarely at you here, tap. Sounds like they have a young team. Think "rebuilding year". Thanks. I'll use that if I need some....erm....."motivation". I think the term you're looking for is "devil's magic" LBT loads veeeeeery slowly for me @ home too (the internet is slower in the middle of nowhere? Really?) Hmmmmm....around my place it happens twice a day. Pre-empted again! Dammit!! "No Child Left Behind" is directly responsible for that kind of stuff. When you tie in federal money with standardized tests, bad things happen.....not the least of which is the schools teaching the "test", instead of how to think critically. My wife laughed & laughed when I told her this. So, so true (uh...she's a teacher, BTW). Yup! When my wife taught K, she said the #1 problem is kids learning how to act in school (ie, following directions, socialization protocols, etc). I'm not saying this is your son's prob, Shonda, because any number of things could potentially be the problem. That's why the conference sounds like a good idea. Remember, at this point it's not you vs. the teacher....it's you and the teacher trying to figure out how to imptove Buddy's education. But if I had a nickel every time my wife came home and said basically teachers can't also parent all the kids, I'd retire. Bumped because it needed to be said again. I agree. Don't spare them any ugly details. Make them terminate you. Don't let them off easy. Yup. Let them deal with the headache. Don't fight it. It makes assimilation easier.

Just for what it's worth, I don't see why Buddhism and Christianity can't be reconciled (IMO). I'm a evangelical Christian and often agree with many principles of zen buddhism. Remember, buddhism was a philosophy long before it was a religion. The Buddha didn't declare himself to be divine.....it was his followers that later somewhat deitized him.

Hahahahahaha!! I'm glad you saw the tongue firmly thrust into my cheek! I really thought that would set everybody off.

See? you said it too.

Oh man, I can only hope this is true. That would be my dream ticket.

Agreed w/ both....Rumsfeld and Jones both should have gone sooner than they did. And I also agree with the "czar concept". All people that have cabinet-level positions should be vetted by the FBI.

Birds pooping = high intellectual humor for me! I laugh every time.

Ok, now that I actually see it, I get what they're trying to say. The title is still a bit awkward, though. I would suggest: Everybody Keep Your Chins Up Keep Your (Collective) Chins Up I secretly wanna crash their blog and write way over the top comments, like "You two are HI-larious!" and "Never has my quest for answers to my obesity problem been so fraught with humor!!"

Yup, no politics here, please.

Maybe it should be named something to convey a sense of urgency, like Time's Running Out.

Well, yeah, I used it in the same breath as when I said it was an inaccurate term. By that standard, you have also used that term when you said: Aha! Caught in the act! BJean said "death panel"! Quit trying to scare and mislead the public, BJean...

I hope you're sh*tting me. That's the name of their blog?!? That's pretty offensive to me and I may be the least PC person here (Ok, so the least PC person is Beth :blushing:). Other considered titles for their blog: Barely Human There's Still Hope, Fat Ass OMG look @ U Impending Coronary

Real answer - I don't use that term. Snarky answer - It's the "wild indian" inside me!!

Please refrain from personal attacks. These are against the rules.

I have the same feeling! Although, mine came about after this nice gentleman clad in leather offered me a drink in a bar I was not familiar with. I....don't like to talk about it. You can't feel your butt either? So maybe I could indulge my spanking fetish and you could get some restful sleep. I call that a win / win.

Ok, I tried. I'm out.