NeuroTypical

Will he impact LDS folks in any way? Is anyone else besides me and Bini interested in the color of the smoke? I'm excited, and happy for my Catholic neighbors. I hope the world benefits.

Your friend didn't tell you to do it, he told you to try. And yes, you can possibly try. We all fall short and none of us will get it right all the time. But it was good advice, and you can try.

Do what is best for your boys. 2nd marriages have a higher divorce rate than first. You'd be introducing another mother figure into their lives. They've already had the grown ups in their life destroy the environment and upbringing they deserved once. Don't do it to them a second time. Choose wisely. You are teaching them and molding their futures with your choices.

Excellent, brilliant analysis from the folks at Stratfor: Considering a Departure in North Korea's Strategy

N. Korea makes gains by acting crazy. It's a geopolitical game to force the world to pretend NK has a better hand than it actually does.

Back a few wards ago, I went a few months without having a calling. I went up to my Bishop and asked him if there was a calling in store for me. He thanked me, and said the ward had more members than callings right now, but would certainly keep me in prayerful consideration. A few months later, the ward split. I caught the bishop in the hall and said "Hi bishop - can I have a calling now?" And in the next two weeks, I had one. Have you considered doing something similar?

Don't worry HG. This happened four years ago, back before you were paying attention. They tell me it happened a decade or so before that too, before I was paying attention. Bullet manufacturers are hesitant to invest in expanding production capability, because they figure demand would go back down like it always does after something like this. Or maybe we're all gearing up to fight da man. If I hear about the balloon going up, I'll let you know.

You politely decline, and leave it at that.

He's a pretty talented guy, alison. My wife had this to say:

I figure the term 'euthanasia' doesn't really belong, unless an actual action is taken which hastens death. For example, administering a drug which stops breathing. Declining to force medication when patient refuses the medication - not euthanasia. Not inserting a feeding tube when someone refuses to eat - not euthanasia. Heck, even administering pain medication, resulting in loss of appetite, resulting in not eating, resulting in organs shutting down for lack of nourishment, resulting in death - not euthanasia in my eyes. There is a time for things. We have some ability to make things not happen when it's time to happen. The wisdom in doing so is very subjective. It's hard enough to righteously judge within your own stewardship - much harder to judge someone else.

Here's my personal experience:2010's: I am encouraged at church to read the Book of Mormon and the scriptures often. 2000's: I was encouraged at church to read the Book of Mormon and the scriptures often. 1990's: I was encouraged at church to read the Book of Mormon and the scriptures often. 1980's: I was encouraged at church to read the Book of Mormon and the scriptures often. 1970's: I was encouraged at church to read the Book of Mormon and the scriptures often. I was inactive from around 1988-1995, so I can't really speak for those years.

Ok, heard back from my wife, who seconds the opinion here that he sounds like an adrenalin junkie - the risk is part of the fun. She mentioned health insurance and life insurance often will not cover injuries suffered while engaging in illegal or high-risk behavior. So if he has delusions of life insurance making stuff ok for you and the kid if something happens, he needs to think again. She also mentions that the non-gang taggers she has run into over the years (and there have been a few), are totally clueless about gangs and territory and whatnot - they're just good artists who live for a thrill. Idea my wife suggested to someone: Encourage him to go legal. Go buy some spray paint and some 4X8 sheets of plywood. Head to a park with him. Set it up, and say "Paint me a sports car" or something like that. Someone came by and paid this kid $200 for it. It wasn't the money that did the trick, it was the attention that came from people watching him while he worked. Have him make up and hand out business cards - Art murals - basketball courts - bedrooms - swank restaurants etc. Depending on where you live, there could be a big market for businesses that want to look cool. If he's resisting the idea that he might run into trouble with a gang, post some of his work here, and let me know what city you folks are in. My wife may be able to say if it resembles any particular gang style, and maybe even can give him some suggestions on how to minimize the risk of ticking off the wrong people.

Hi alison, I'm afraid we're not giving you a very good welcome to this board. You are asking for advice, and some of us are making all sorts of judgements and predictions that I don't believe are warranted. Something I wanted to clarify - I don't believe that being in a gang makes someone a monster. Anyway, I showed this thread to my wife, who sometimes works in an informal social worker capacity with people in and out of gangs. She's the streetwise one in our marriage. She had a few questions: What sets off his tagging binges? What does he do when he's not tagging? If he's not in a gang, does he know if he's tagging on gang territory? (He could get shot if he ticks off someone or someone thinks he is a rival.)

What gang is he in?He's not part of a gang. Just an artist.Who does he want fame from? From whom does he get the street cred? You mention other artists - are they taggers too? Also supposedly not in gangs?(Just seems like an awful lot of non-gang-related gang activity going on here.)

It seems like you've got a choice to make then. I would suggest that you do not consider kids at all, until you've both reached an agreement both of you can live with for a very long time.I'm sorry.

What gang is he in?

I've heard about holy medals, but don't know much about them. What are they for?

My buddy owns and runs Aquinasandmore.com - at one time the largest online supplier of Catholic goods. His business ran into hard times after some Google-related traffic drops and apparently some internal accounting problems which have now been solved. It looks like he's making a last attempt to stay in business. Help Save Aquinas and More So yeah, I'm a mormon, asking any Catholics to go support this store and buy lots of stuff, and consider becoming an 'AquinasAngel'. I don't know what Catholics need to buy from Catholic stores, but I know the owner and his family they are good people.

Light-minded: Mocking the sacred things of God. Big no-no. Light-hearted: Good natured humor at our mortal condition and all it's foibles. Critical coping mechanism. Adds spice to life. Expression of joy. Way to share/spread/create happiness.

Hi Don, and welcome!

You should probably think a little about stewardship. Unless you're her legal guardian, it's not up to you to decide who takes care of her. It sounds like she's in charge of herself, and she seems right now to want to drive everyone away from her. That's her choice. You can love people without letting their negative things hurt you. It's easier said than done, but it's possible. And usually easier from a distance. You do things like leave the door open, but make sure the door is only big enough to let her in - not her baggage and attacks and melodrama. When you get angry at outbursts and whatnot, you're basically handing control of yourself over to another person. Choose not to do that. A great way of handling family drama, is to not-add to it. When it starts happening, remove yourself from the situation. "Sorry to hear you're mad at me Gramma. Let me know if maybe you want to go to lunch next month or something!" This stuff is hard, and takes a lot of time and energy. Good luck.

My wife has 'upcycled' a ton of stuff. A blanket out of old t-shirt strips. A flower out of an aluminum can. I'm currently collecting pop tabs so she can make me a suit of chain mail for halloween. I'm also collecting 6-pack rings so I can make another family-size hammock.

The best zombie shows, are studies of the human condition. About finding and losing hope. Giving up or carrying on. How people handle impossible situations. The true meaning of love and frendship.I mean, Walking Dead is hardly a shining example of worthy entertainment. But it has more going for it than Grease. (I'm a fan of Twilight. Without Twilight, I wouldn't be able to make fun of Twilight.)

Looking at things from a parenting perspective, we find that many things with no redeeming value, have value. They have value as examples of things with no redeeming value. That said, Grease doesn't really even have much value as an example of something with no redeeming value. I can walk my kids to a casino and they can learn about how wickedness never was happiness. I can take them to a jail or prison and they can learn about future-destroying consequenses. We can watch Diary of a Wimpy Kid and learn about how sometimes things can stink even though there are no bad guys. I can make dinner and they can learn to marry someone who can cook, and how to endure hardship. Heck, when old enough, they can watch Threnadier moving through the sewers and learn about the natural man and evil and such. But they watch Grease, and see the glorification of the mundane and false portrayals of what brings happiness. I'm not a fan either.

People, please. This is busfeliz' first time here, maybe we can respect her thread and not fall on each other like a pack of wolves? This is not directed at anyone specifically. Just a polite reminder of the site rules - especially rules #3 and #4: