pink_trike

what's interesting is that we needed science to tell us that unborn babies feel pain. But then, it wasn't that long ago (in my lifetime) that surgery was performed on infants under the age of 1 year with no anesthesia because the prevailing medical belief at the time was that they didn't feel pain. They were believed to only be capable of reflexive responses. Of course, any mother knew better...

Thought I'd add this to the soup: http://www.911proof.com/ Just for the record...I have no opinion. I am resting comfortably in don't-know mind.

I think you're right. And my sense is that the numbers would be low for both. Condi isn't likely to inspire a large amount of crossovers from either group. Hilary has a better chance of wooing repub women.

I'm curious if you are assuming that RedAlert is a guy. I don't see that stated anywhere in the post or in RedAlert's profile. Aside from that, and the suggestion to lie, I think your post is very thoughtul.

Just to be clear, I didn't suggest that Pelosi should or could win the nomination. I simply said that I would prefer her over Hilary.

My ommission...I should have added, "and if so, what are they?". What would be some related keywords pointing me toward more information about these stages and their names? thanks

Could the earth itself be considered the first living organism?

in no order: - when I make a decision to accomplish something, I do it...even if people tell me that I can't. - that I've maintained a yoga practice for 25 years. - That I worked my way through several advanced degrees despite a learning disablility. - my understanding that kindness is more important than knowledge. - my entrepreneurial skills and successes. - That I laugh a lot. - That I am utterly lacking a fear of death. - that my ear is trained to hear the sound of a kitten in distress. (I've rescued about 20 abandoned kittens over the last 20 years). - That I'm naturally unusual. - that I have so many things on my list of things I like about myself.

Not all voters fall into two distinct hard coded camps: Democrat and Republican. Yes, some democrat women would vote for Condi. Just as some republican women would vote for Hilary. Men tend to underestimate how women feel about the idea of a woman prez. And some african american democrats would vote for Condi. Like it or not, the personal is political, and the political is personal. Stupidity figures into all human activity, but making choices to vote outside one's party affiliation based on reasons that are not narrowly and traditionally understood to be in the political realm is more complex than "stupidity". There might even be very good reasons to do so. To help understand this, give some thought to how men might feel if there had never been a male prez and they were presented with a a viable male candidate for the first time.

Just as there was a large "People for Kerry who dislike Kerry" block of voters, there will be a large "People for Clinton who dislike Clinton" group. Can she win? The debate about voting machine ownership aside...let's hope so. Personally, I'd prefer Pelosi.

I've always suspected that science had morphed into a religion.

Its been done with dolphins also. Very scary considering the sacred marriage between science and military institutions, and the tendency toward market-driven scientific research.

Give her more than a week. Let her realize that you are respecting her request for distance, and let her come back to you when she realizes that you are respecting her wish and that she misses you.

On the other hand...if there is no identity, posts can be read and understood without the interference of unconscious biases related to gender, age, race and looks.

Wow. You and I live in parallel universes. I'd love to take you on a tour of the United States I live in.

The sole function/mission of an STD organism is to reproduce, not to define or discourage behavior. Would the presence of a disease-causing microorganism in a meat product also be a natural way to discourage meat-eating and define the act as unnatural? Are waterborne diseases a natural way to discourage water-drinking and define it as unnatural? Are hookworms a natural way to discourage walking barefoot and define it as unnatural? Is genital herpes a natural way to define heterosexual vaginal intercourse as unnatural and discourage it ? No, no, no, and no.

What a chilling scenerio. Viva la revolution!

Glad to hear U.S. business is doing so well. I guess this means that it won't be so resistent to minimum wage increase, comprehensive health care benefits and enforced worker safety standards? Do you suppose that maybe they'll open the tap a little more on the trickle-down faucet? I only ask because I noticed that the poverty rate keeps increasing, and the number of people that can afford to purchase a home keeps declining.

This is impossible to know due in part to the long incubation period before primary symptoms emerge (on averge 7-10 years), and in part because before AIDS was identified, countless poor people likely died in Africa and Southeast Asia, (and even in the United States) without a diagnosis. The earliest known cases of HIV infection are: - A plasma sample taken in 1959 from an adult male living in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. - HIV found in tissue samples from an American teenager who died in St. Louis in 1969. - HIV found in tissue samples from a Norwegian sailor who died around 1976. Within a period of approximately 1.5 years (during 1981-1982), AIDS-related symptoms were being reported in the United States, United Kingdom, Haiti and Uganda, making it a global human disease, not a Gay disease as it was characterized by the media in the United States during those years. Its important to note also that globally, the vast majority of HIV/AIDS cases are overwhelmingly seen in people who identify as heterosexual, both female and male. This is an unknown (see above early transmission cases. Sexual histories are not available for these people). It is simply one highly likely theory that Gay servicemen brought the virus to the United States , but it is impossible to know. Its not that simple. There are many theories about the global transmission route. None have been proven. The vast majority of AIDS cases in Africa and Southeast Asia are heterosexual (by our cultural definitions). Both of those cultures at that time had less rigidly define categories of sexual expression (hetero/homo) than the United States did, and it was (still is) common for men to go both ways (with homosex being practiced below the radar). Men having sex with men wasn't considered overly taboo in these cultures, and many men engaged in sex with men both before, and commonly, after marriage. Tracing the exact route of this disease into the United States is impossible, but servicemen serving in SouthEast Asia likely were exposed to it via sexual contact with local men that we, in our culture, call "bisexual" (which were mostly married men with children), and "gay" men (which were simply regarded there as men who had not married yet), labels that were not used in that part of the world at that time. These young servicemen then returned to the United States just in time to participate in the sexual revolution that defined the late sixties/seventies for both heteros and homos alike. There is another theory that is quite common among African-Americans (who have also been hard hit by AIDS) and gay men in this country that hasn't been given much, or enough, serious consideration: that the virus was deliberately placed in these communities, via various mass vaccine trials (small pox, hep b) that took place in the Gay community, African American community, and on the African continent. Researchers who accept that this is conceivable are not at liberty to pursue this research...1. lack of funding for it, and 2. it would jeapordize their career. This is not because it isn't a possible transmission route theory, but rather, it is stigmatized as a "conspiracy" theory. However, anyone that believes that this theory is entirely "crazy" needs to read more history, and take the time to research biological warfare research over that last 50 years. I'm not saying that the theory is correct. I am saying that the research into the possiblity is long overdue. At the very least it needs to be disproven, given the history of certain ruling-class entities' experience with this very sort of thing. Now so I don't get tarred with the conspiracy theory brush here, let me repeat...I am not saying that this theory is true. I have no opinion on it other than it should be soundly disproven. There are many other origination/transmission route theories. Likely we'll never know. But attempting to point the finger at the Gay community is pointless and only reflects negative cultural biases.

Here's a related fun read...one of the few sites dealing with this subject that is well written. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/6396/Aerie.htm