Well....
1. McCain IS a Republican
2. McCain is a war hero, a prisoner of war
3. If McCain is in bed with big oil, it is less obvious (Bush is an oil tycoon)
4. McCain does not seem like a barroom bully
5. If Cheney were on the ticket I'd crap my guts out (I would have voted Republican in the primary to keep Cheney out)
6. Anybody want to party when B&C get out of the W&H next January?
Well, she's a woman - I think the old boys' network will keep her out.
I am grateful for not being American
. Our Merkel is surely way better than hilary.
Can't be worse than Huckabee who would probably demand that everyone on the Autistic spectrum be exorcised of demons.
This war on terrorism seems to be going with kid gloves. Why on earth doesn't Al Qaeda fight with good old fashioned men with guns which terrorizes plenty of people in places like the Middle East? Why is it WMD this, WMD that?
Unless our Government is cooking up the threat just to scare us, instead of there really being a bunch of angry Muslims wanting to spill American blood on American soil.
Random snipings would do more disruption and fear and spill more American blood in the short term than anything Al Qaeda has done in years.
BE HAPPY THE THREAT IS OVERRATED, IT SEEMS. BUT WHY DOES THE GOVERNMENT WANT US AFRAID? WHAT DOES IT WANT TO DO WITH OUR FRIGHTENED COOPERATION? Take over oil rich countries? A resource war? Or, if 20 or 30 years from now, if fresh water, oil, and/or food are scarce, maybe we need a military to annihilate everyone else on Earth to keep them from taking our dwindling crop yields, oil drilling, and aquafers from us?
I'm sure it will never come to that.
Yes, generating far more heat than light too.
Wouldn't following a vegan diet cause more farting, thus contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and the hole in the ozone layer (if such exists)?
I find it highly ironic that McCain wants to be humane to terrorists in Gitmo, yet he is just fine with being inhumane toward autistic children
I only wish it were that simple. Once the technology exists, somebody somewhere will find a way of using it to our detriment.
It's already happening with plenty of other genetic conditions, even when the tests are only about 50% accurate, meaning about half the babies that are aborted are unaffected and about half who weren't are affected. The tests don't always discriminate between mild affects and severe effects either.
It is also not realised that many "defects" occur due to oxygen deprivation in the later stages of pregnancy or during birth.
But raising any child is a 24/7 job. Why are autistic children getting picked on like that?
Actually no, that's not true. With an NT child, the 24/7 only applies until school starts - if that if you can afford child care. With an autistic child it's right the way through childhood, and child care is not an option. And with an NT child you can get just a regular babysitter. No chance of that with an Autistic child.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. What about child care providers that are skilled in dealing with autistic kids?
Besides, when you have a child no one garuntees it's going to be easy.
People that are not ready to deal with special needs children and get help when they need it are not ready to have kids at all.
Now you're getting the idea. They aren't ready for it - and won't admit it either. Also, child care providers that specialise like that are more expensive and not as numerous as regular child care providers.
That's why parents cop out. They don't want to know about the extra responsibilities.
But raising any child is a 24/7 job. Why are autistic children getting picked on like that?
Actually no, that's not true. With an NT child, the 24/7 only applies until school starts - if that if you can afford child care. With an autistic child it's right the way through childhood, and child care is not an option. And with an NT child you can get just a regular babysitter. No chance of that with an Autistic child.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. What about child care providers that are skilled in dealing with autistic kids?
Besides, when you have a child no one garuntees it's going to be easy.
People that are not ready to deal with special needs children and get help when they need it are not ready to have kids at all.
Now you're getting the idea. They aren't ready for it - and won't admit it either. Also, child care providers that specialise like that are more expensive and not as numerous as regular child care providers.
That's why parents cop out. They don't want to know about the extra responsibilities.
It's not always so simple. Services are frequently woeful and/or non-existent. Parents of autistic children with high needs are seldom able to take the breaks that other parents take for granted. Just going shopping can be a major undertaking if said child/ren react badly to noises, smells, etc.
I know of a local mother who has three autistic children. Some people looked disapprovingly at her when she was shopping at a local supermarket because she had reins on all three. There was an article in the local paper about it. She said the reins were there because otherwise the children would run away and possibly get out onto the road and get hit by a car.
I was generalising to make the point, Pakrat. You're right of course.
But still, why the autistic kids? All sorts of issues cause that and support services for them are still woeful.
I think that fear of people that are different plays a huge part in this, as well as a temptation to want to pidgeon-hole people and ignore them when they challenge us.
You answered your question in the second paragraph, Morning.
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I know of a local mother who has three autistic children. Some people looked disapprovingly at her when she was shopping at a local supermarket because she had reins on all three. There was an article in the local paper about it. She said the reins were there because otherwise the children would run away and possibly get out onto the road and get hit by a car.
You can tell her that I was 'looked at disapprovingly' way back in the 'Eighties when I had three on reins too 
. People thought they had the right to criticise, especially about the oldest; "Isn't he too old to be on reins?"
But I couldn't exactly abandon the two younger ones to chase after him when he ran - they would have run too. Bah!
Safety first and take no damn notice of stupid people.
I'm not sure why there would have been so much disapproval of using reins. I certainly don't see them very often now but mum used them when she had four children under 6.