Fiannan

He warned us man...now it may be too late!!!!

ITAR-TASS Russia recorded its highest birthrate in nearly 2 decades in 2007!!!! Future Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stated: " "Let's not stop at this /achievement/," said President Vladimir Putin, who also attended the session. " This accomplishment was praised by future Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. Great news and let's hope the Russians can further increase their birthrate and respect for traditional family values and can block the devestating ammoral influences of western Europe's infidel anti-Christian, anti-family culture.

William M. Briggs, Statistician » Zombies no joke: global warming can cause anything Oh my, now another thing to worry about. Is Al Gore infected? He needs to make a bigger deal about this.

And in that we are in total agreement. I did not have to marry outside of the faith, but I did marry outside of the USA.

True, but we are subjected to societal pressures and in order to resist we need to be, as the Bible states, as wise as serpants in order to safeguard outselves. We slowely accept new roles for women, new views on birth control, new views on what clothing we wear in public and it just becomes part of us. This is not evolution, it is programming whether one wants to call it that or not.

In most cases yes, but if a child is subjected to constant psychological harassment some will kill themselves. I am not saying everyone should go knock off a bully but this needs to get more attention. Also, the criminal justice system needs to be brought into this since assult and battery and harassment are criminal offenses and if someone won't stop then a bit of time at Juvie might help -- at the very least there is probably someone there bigger and meaner than them who might provide them some interesting experiences come shower time.

If you want to add voice to this reply please envision Dr. Perry Cox of Scrubbs. Lots of people have tried to psychoanalyze me and the only ones who have gotten it right are the ones with similar core personalities -- I doubt you'd want to spend a week camping with in a remote area with some of them unless you wanted this as the theme song for your "adventure" -- YouTube - In Flames - Only For The Weak It would be a great adrenaline rush though -- I could assure you of that. Sooooorry for placing intellect, shared interests, personality and conversation very high on my list of what attracts me in a woman. Did I not state in my post that spirituality is also very important and that my example relationship ended due to this woman not wanting to consider the spirituality as taught in our Church? Do I feel most American women are superficial and neurotic? Yep, but there are plenty (even LDS ones) who aren't. In fairness there are a lot of guys who would make a really good case of the re-introduction of polygamy so their genes could be weeded out. I hope you aren't like the guy who Elder Bedner described in a talk last year who was dating a girl at BYU but dumped her when she got a peircing. If one of my sons were dating an active and smart LDS girl attending BYU and dropped her for something like this I'd give him a slap upside the head that he would not forget for a very long time.

True. I heard a few Brits got all ruffled when Tony Blair converted to the Catholic Church a couple months ago. To live as a true Mormon one would have to shun the materialistic "me" culture of America and Europe

I have mixed feelings on this. When I was single I actually met way more non-members who were into who I was while I never really related to most life members. I was lucky enough to find a Swedish wife who I can discuss deep subjects with on an equal footing. No, this is not an attack on American women becasue there are a few who are outside the materialistic norm (even some young LDS women in America). I suppopse if anything happened to my wife I would be open to date non-members as well (since I have gone through all the ordinances in the temple already) but they would have to be open to the Gospel. I once dated a fantastic non-member who was an atheist. We got along great and shared all the same interests but she was a bit pushy on the atheist thing so that ended the relationship.

At another forum I visit on occasion this topic came up a while ago. One of the more conservative members said he understood why some kids have to carry weapons to school and maybe there are times they have to terminate a bully. The phrase he used was it was better to be tried by twelve than carried by six.

I guess I should have included the outcome after he viewed part 1 of the series. He observed that freedom of choice as is part of the rhetoric of teenagers (as well as modern adults) is a myth. At first this frustrated him but then I took the teaching moment to show that our choices actually consist of our goals or path in life. So if a teenager is raised in a religion but chooses to go totally opposite then he or she will be subject to the programing or brainwashing that choice entails -- as well as the consequences. If someone chooses to adhere to the Church principles then the same is true. That's why this series is so awesome, it illustrates that there are powerful forces at work plotting to brainwash or indoctrinate the masses. Yes, the Church does this -- don't you think there was a bit of analysis of human behavior taking place when the whole "For the Strength of Youth" was compiled, edited, published and re-inforced in firesides and regular church meetings? People in academics have thier goals as do departments of education, big businesses, mega-foundations and government -- problem is, many of these goals they want to promote in our population are contrary to the Gospel. A-Train, I realize that it is not comfortable to face the truth of how programed our society is and that true freedom of choice is impossible but I challenge you to at least watch part 3 of this series -- it gives some really good explainations for how the 1950s ethics were a result of our society recognizing the Freudian concept of repressing the inner animal (the natural man) and re-inforcing proper behavior and then how radical anti-Freudians (who believed his views on the sub-conscious but felt one could destroy the conservative society by unleashing restraints and embracing the inner animal) took control of academia and leftist organizations and ushered in the sexual revolution and other ways of thinking that would have given Freud a massive coronary had he lived to see what happened. The irony is that this would result in the next generation (Gen X) becoming self-interested but also hyper conservatives who put Reagan into office. I dare people to check these programs out. My hope is that even though there are a few nude scenes in part 3 (it was the '60s after all being talked about) that you'd get your kids to watch these programs with you.

Recently my 16 year old hit me with the question about free agency…you know, how can one say they have made the free choice to be a member of the Church if they have been raised LDS and basically ”brainwashed”(his words) into the beliefs and values of LDS culture. Of course I tried to discuss the issue with him but I felt unsatisfied with my response. I then decided to ask him if he believed one ever can make a totally un-biased decision if all society is geared towards social conformity and its own set of values. American society is, of course, highly regimented and while we have the illusion of free inquiry and choice there are powerful forces behind the scenes that try to mold us into values systems that are more often than not contrary to the teachings of our Church and pretty much Christianity in general. His reply was somewhat superficial, as would be expected, so I had him view this documentary (only part one for starters) “The Century of the Self” produced by BBC in 2002. You can view the entire 4 part series on the internet for free here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2637635365191428174 For those with a background in psychology this will serve as a reminder of how easy it is to shape public opinion and perceptions. Parts one and two deal with the business and US government’s attempt to use Freudian psychology to shape the masses, while number three deals with the roots of the 1960s rebellion (which led to more social control, only without values – old Freud was, after all, quite conservative in his values) and number 4 deals with how political figures today use time-tested techniques to manipulate public behavior. It is vital that people realize that you do have choice – but that pretty much is limited to which social system you put your trust in to guide you. The Church has, as its core function, to bring people closer to Christ. On the other hand, corporations want to tap into your mind to get you to purchase their items while the politicians want to bring you closer to their political and ideological agenda. Puts the “choose you this day” concept into proper focus.

Too much of public education is geared towards making kids into good consumers and thinking the "right thoughts". Now before you start thinking this sounds conspiratorial please view some of this BBC series "The Century of the Self". One then can ask why the same school culture evolves in just about every school in the USA: The Century of the Self 3 of 4 This is a four part series. It's well worth your time to view -- and if you are a home schooler then you might consider integrating it into your curriculum for your kids.

I wonder how many students guilty of bullying get suspensions like this? wltx.com | District: Students Doing "More Than Kissing"

Absolutely correct -- maybe sometimes you have to have an R rating to expose the problems that deserve an R rating themselves. PC, I can assure you that many schools have administrators who would hire someone who is a good coach, and can do an okay job teaching math rather than hire Albert Einstein if he were alive and applying for the same math job. I have heard from too many teachers that unless you teach special education or some other field that is short of teachers (fields such as biology, social studies or English have huge surpluses of teachers and most graduates in these fields have a really tough time getting work) then you should make sure you are good at footballl or basketball. Maybe if you don't trust me on the teacher surplus thing you can call your state educational certification department and ask how many actively certified teachers are in the state you live and how many employed teachers there are (of course this won't count those with certifications that are expired due to someone leaving the profession or not being able to find work).

Pam, of course bullies are not "created" by school administrators but if a school administrator doesn't put up an agressive effort to stop this epidemic then they are accessories to the CRIME! Yes, it is a crime. Let's say you have a job with a major firm. Each day you go to work you are harassed sexually or you even get your property stolen OR other employees physically assult you. You report this to the boss who does nothing but verbally chastize these thugs. So of course the assult and battery continues. WHO IS LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE???? You know as well as I do that the cops will get involved and the employer is going to get a major lawsuit as well. Now you can quit your job if this is happening, but a school kid whose parents are unable to homeschool or aren't rich enough to afford a private school where rules are enforced is forced by law to have to go into this psychotic environment. If he or she refused they get into trouble so why not at least apply the same expectations (legally) we put on private employers towards government schools????? So if you know admins who agressively fight conditions that encourage bullying or go after bullies with an uncompromising vengence then more power to these fine people. If you know admins who do not, or do it in a passive way, then when some poor kid gets harassed, goes on a rampage or hangs himself or herself then a great deal of the responsibility should be placed on the desk of the admins.

A mother that buys shirts like this is part of the problem. So getting back to Bryan's original point -- who is teaching modesty in a better way, a mother who wears revealing clothes or buys it for her kids or a mother who takes her kids to a nudist resort for the weekend?

What political ideas am I advancing here P.C.? I think this is an issue that should concern all people, of all political types. As for doctorates when I was doing my masters it was advanced in the graduate school that education doctorates where the easiest to aquire. A teacher with a masters degree in math, or science, or health, or any other field has a much tougher time than one with an education degree. Also, did I not praise teachers? I have known maybe one principal that I had respect for (I have 8 kids and my social circle includes lots of educators so I don't think I am uninformed). When one reads about bullying in schools, idiotic solutions proposed to curb school violence like banning trenchcoats or suspending some 7 year old for a week for having a squirt gun or accusing a 12 year old of sexual harassment for swatting a girl's behind (after she has swatted his), or have teachers tell me that the first question about half of principals ask a prospective teacher is "what sport can you coach" it just confirms my views of administrators today. Now if I have any "political view" maybe I do share George Carlin's view of education. For that go to youtube and type in "George Carlin education" and then tell me anything he says in that 4 minutes that is incorrect.

Not going to happen as long as people buy "made in China".

Check out their websites like godhatesamerica.com or godhatessweden.com -- by their fruits ye shall know them.

In Europe they just try to teach kids to have respect for one another -- and if bullying still takes place the school can be sued if it doesn't try to stop it. No big government program necessary. Bullying is what causes kids to go on shooting rampages -- yet admins try to blame everything from trenchcoats to Marilyn Manson.

This post is by PRISON CHAPLAIN--QUOTES ARE FIANNAN Not true. If I'm not mistaken, public school administrators in our area make somewhere in the mid-60s, comp with mid to upper 40s for teachers--but they work at least one month more per year than the teachers. So, their pay per hour is probably only about 20-30% higher. And, the education requirements are higher--most have Ed. Doctorates. You really believe this? You believe that school principals just sit in the office. Administration is work. It is mentally exhausting, and requires something that many companies would pay much more than our schools do...leadership.BTW, why do you find it informative and useful to dish professionals, who serve the public? They have doctorates. Earned doctorates. Their education is at least the equivalent of lawyers--or prison chaplains. :-)Fiannan, I understand that it is sometimes fun to dish certain professions, in order to advance certain political ideals. But this post is rather unkind, and uninformed, imho.

Mom: Bullies drove boy to kill himself - CNN.com While I am not sure about this specific case I have to say my general impression of American school administrators is very,very poor. Most seem to be washed up teachers /coaches who can't handle the classroom so they spend a couple of summers in school to get an administrator's license so they can be get out of teaching, but rule their little kingdoms. Why do kids carry knives and guns to school? To protect themselves in most cases. And what do the kids do who are outsiders (who don't fit into the artificial and psychotic lifestyle of modern American education evolved from psychological theories better applied to correctional institutions than places of learning)? These kids suffer, commit suicide or go on rampages. If only all parents with kids picked on in schools would carefully document the cases, document their appeals to the administrative morons, and then, if their kids continues to be picked on, bring lawsuits up against these schools you would see things change. The American education system has some excellent teachers, some pathetic administrators and is anything but well. The administrators across the USA will only take note when money is at stake -- and bad publicity since most admins are more concerned about good publicity (like having good write-ups in the sports page about their sports teams) than the welfare of the kids. It's time the US followed examples of countries like Britain and Sweden and take action against bullies -- and admins who ignore the problem as well.

Avoidance of the flu and similar infections? A) Do not touch thin mucos membranes with your fingers and then touch other surfaces. Most viral infection comes from someone getting virus on their hands and then rubbing their eyes or putting their finger in their nose. B) Get lots of exercise -- it keeps your body in a state that is healthier and you are better able to fight off disease. C) Sex (okay, only for marrieds). This activity produces a load of hormone production that fights disease. For singles, hugs actually produce many of the same chemicals, just not nearly as much.

Not sure what you are getting at with the pregnancy question. Also, define what is "healthy" eating. Food essentially is our source of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals and vitamines. If what we take in is used properly and excess energy is used up then it really doesn't matter if we are eating our sandwich on white bread or if we put sugar on corn flakes.