dit-dot-dit
So I've been a quiet little primate around here recently, and as I was fuddling about with an old mail archive, I found some of my first postings to Brin-L from back in '97 or '98 (!) I cringe reading over the adolescent crap I've written over the years; I guess in some ways until I chose to move on with certain parts of my life I was always going to be stuck as an angry teenager, who, regardless of how smart they were, was doomed to always be the frothing anger-ball. I was looking back for old eJournal entries (from my blog, back before someone was hip enough to coin a term for them), doing a bit of self-examination. I've been struggling with a couple issues the past 2-3 months, both of which have really forced me to pull back from communities I once felt a part of, both real life and virtual. One of them I guess I can talk about, and even ask a little philisophical irregulars Life Advice on. Early last month, I parted ways with Amazon.com.. ok, well, I was fired, by a boss I'd been having difficulty with for some months. Starting 2 weeks after I came out to him with my *ahem* situation, I started getting a series of negative reviews, work loads increasing, deadlines shortening, resources dwindling... in short, before I even realized what he was doing, he'd managed me out of the group and out of the company. Blah! So I've been dealing with that, this complex set of feelings about the entire affair -- aren't I more than my job? When did I begin to define my success based on my paycheck and not on my intrinsic value as a very smart, capable, talented human? For the first time in 9 1/2 years I don't have a job or any job prospects, and quite frankly, I don't really feel much like working at the moment. See, I got a couple months salary as severence, cashed out the last of those dotCom stocks, and Unemployment Insurance, which I've been paying into for 15-16 years is pretty generous to me. I figure I've got about a year to sit and ponder, if I chose to do so. I've been doing all the things that we're supposed to do in order to fulfill that bumper sticker quote live each day as if it were your last -- I learned to knit, I play poker 4-5 nights a week at the local casinos, I've travelled up and down the west coast, I went to Vegas, I went to a meeting of a group of people who make their own absinthe, I've designed a series of sculptures, I wrote poetry, I wrote the first draft of a puppet show using marionettes of famous villians from sci-fi and built the first few test marionettes of Cylons and Darleks (the Jophur are driving me crazy, mechanistically speaking!) I've reapplied for and been reaccepted at art school. At what cost does one follow a dream? How do you detirmine when a dream is a directive, a demand, rather than an idle fantasy of what-ifs? -kerri, a little scattered, but thoughtful this evening- __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: the purge
On Thursday 2005-03-17 20:25, d.brin wrote: Today. In person. One of the most conservative men I know and former special forces. One of dozens who have told me - when I asked about the purge - David, it is worse than you can imagine. This is not just the fault of the Straussian fanatics, or even their masters. After all, it was our job to prevent this. The left bears much of the blame. Extreme liberals are incapable of realizing that our freedom's bulwark has always been the Officer Corps. Frekazoid super-lefties have fetishistically gone out of their way to alienate the military and the churches and everything white or middle class they could spot, effectively handing any election over to the neocons and kleptos. These lefty jerks put us in today's position, where moderate liberals and the Officer Corps cannot even perceive the need to help each other in the context of an attempted putsch that is starting to look eerily and horrifically familiar. The commies did the same thing in the run-up to 1933. Or possibly in the Soviet Union in the 1930's. Our officers need help. They need it now. But the liberals cannot hear their muffled cries. Unfortunately, none of our officers, active or retired, has publically asked for help. Until somebody goes on the record and a major news organization reports a purge there are no victims needing help and no problem needing a solution. You are the son of a journalist, and everyday you move closer to being a non-fiction essayist than a writer of fictional novels. You know that this is WHY we have a free press. If you cannot produce specifics Look, if you are 10% right this is a huge problem. But you cannot document it. Find a journalist to take the story and introduce her to some of your sources. And if it's true then SEVERAL good officers will have to give up break ordinary professional ethics and sacrifice careers by making a political complaint to the press. I CANNOT do anything about it. All I have is hearsay. Since you have direct reports, you could take your concerns to members of your state's congressional delegation. Of course, they will also probably want proof and some leads to start an investigation. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: the purge
* Trent Shipley ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: [message without BRIN: in the subject] Unless you Bcc'd him or otherwise directly emailed him, it is unlikely Brin will read what you wrote. -- Erik Reuter http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Social Security Deserves Better Than Another Partisan Brawl
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB02071090881840,00.html CAPITAL By DAVID WESSEL Social Security Deserves Better Than Another Partisan Brawl March 17, 2005; Page A2 President Bush's campaign to create private Social Security accounts and to stabilize the popular retirement system is foundering. Democrats are gleeful that their united opposition has shut down the storied Bush offense. Score this as a baseball game, and early innings go to Democrats. But this is not a baseball game. The stakes are bigger. No one should embrace a fiscally irresponsible plan to change Social Security or one that exposes Americans to destitution in old age. Weakening Social Security would be a bad outcome. But so would a tough, partisan fight that ends without a compromise for fixing Social Security. President Bush, who displayed no visible concern with U.S. budget deficits in his first term, is making a long-term fix to Social Security a top priority. His argument for action is sound: Huge numbers of baby boomers, like me, will be retiring soon, and we are living longer and our benefits are rising, Mr. Bush said in his Saturday radio address. At the same time, fewer workers will be paying into the system to support a growing number of retirees. Therefore, the government is making promises it cannot keep. That's not a partisan point. It's a fact. Democrats' response so far is to do to Mr. Bush what Republicans did to the 1994 Clinton health-care plan: Kill it and damage the standing of the president. That may be smart politics. It may be a natural reaction to partisan rancor of recent years. But the collapse of the Clinton health plan set back efforts to cope with rising health costs for a decade. All of us are paying for that inaction today. If bickering between Democrats and Republicans blocks a Social Security compromise this year, will it be another 10 years before any politician tries again? That would be an unwelcome result. There are good reasons to act now. Baby boomers are about to reach retirement age. The oldest turn 59 this year. Most Social Security proposals exempt current retirees and workers older than 55 from the necessary belt-tightening. That's prudent: Workers deserve time to prepare for retirement-age changes or shrunken pensions. Delay means more baby boomers are exempt, which means younger workers will get squeezed more. There's the real danger of grandfathering the baby boom, which literally means we've missed solving the big problem, says Douglas Holtz-Eakin, director of the Congressional Budget Office. If the baby boom isn't grandfathered, the politics get even more treacherous. If politicians have trouble telling 40-year-olds that they won't get promised benefits, imagine telling 65-year-olds. What's more, delay enlarges the tax increase or reductions in benefits needed to make Social Security sound. Fixing Social Security through 2078 without squeezing benefits would take a 15% increase in payroll taxes today, a 21% increase if delayed until 2018 and a 43% increase if delayed till 2042. (So why do Democrats want to put this off until they regain control?) Social Security seems hard. But it's easy compared to health care, a bigger U.S. fiscal problem. Social Security is only money. Medicare and Medicaid is money plus ever-improving technology plus Americans' insatiable appetite for health care plus life-and-death ethics. If politicians can't do Social Security, will they ever do Medicare and Medicaid? Social Security is spring training, says U.S. Federal Reserve governor Edward Gramlich. Medicare is the real season. With a second-term president shouting about the urgency of repairing Social Security, how did the system get stuck? Partisanship is only part of the answer. Mr. Bush loudly declares Social Security broken and then advocates private accounts into which workers could divert payroll taxes to invest for retirement. Private accounts -- whatever the merits of Mr. Bush's ownership society -- do nothing to fix the Social Security problem that Mr. Bush has identified. Democrats have exploited this fact. And, if you listen closely, Mr. Bush acknowledges it. Personal accounts do not solve the issue, he said yesterday. Personal accounts will make sure that individual workers get a better deal with whatever emerges as a Social Security solution. Perhaps he figured the accounts would prove popular enough to propel the whole effort. If so, he figured wrong. Mr. Bush's fellow Republicans, meanwhile, are choking on the borrowing Mr. Bush proposes to pay current retirees when workers divert payroll taxes to private accounts. Bush-friendly economists explain that this merely replaces promises that aren't on the books with bonds that are, but the argument isn't convincing deficit-wary Republicans on Capitol Hill. The president's men, stymied, may soon seek compromise. Democrats then will decide whether the president is moving for tactical advantage or moving toward a
Re: Tits (a wo^H^HMan's perspective)
At 01:53 AM Friday 3/18/2005, kerri miller wrote: But I think it's *appalling* that teenagers are given breast implants as 'graduation presents' -- and SHAME on those doctors!!! _Any_ surgery involving general anesthesia carries a small but definite risk of death. How pathetic to risk one's life to be well-endowed... I'd have to agree, having just gt back from a trip to Las Vegas/Los Angeles a few weeks ago, surrounded by silicone-sculpted bodies everywhere we went! Perhaps someone ought to do a poll of the male population to find out whether more actually prefer the silicone-sculpted D-cup look or the natural (B-cup?) look? I'll vote natural. --Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Attack of the Metal-Eating Plants
From: Gary Nunn [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion brin-l@mccmedia.com To: 'Killer Bs Discussion' brin-l@mccmedia.com Subject: RE: Attack of the Metal-Eating Plants Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 11:38:22 -0500 Rob wrote... Genetically modified plants may be the green solution for cleaning up contaminated soils. This reminds me of one of my favorite stories (the title escapes me at the moment - it's been a while since I read it) where a company created an enzyme or bacteria or something that would only eat waste products from paper mills and logging operations. Reminds me of Startide. A little. -Travis _ Designer Mail isn't just fun to send, it's fun to receive. Use special stationery, fonts and colors. http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-capage=byoa/premxAPID=1994DI=1034SU=http://hotmail.com/encaHL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines Start enjoying all the benefits of MSN® Premium right now and get the first two months FREE*. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: dit-dot-dit
Like most everyone else, when you got out on your own and found out just how expensive it is to live, and realized that if you don't earn it, no one else is going to support you any more? :P That's one of those life lessons I got early, around 14 or 15. When I was a kid, I felt a little like 8 year old Bill Murrary in Scrooged. Kid: I want a for christmas! Dad: Then get a job! Mom: Harold, he's only 8! Dad: All day long I hear excuses why people can't find a job - my back hurts, I'm tired, I'm only 8! Well I'm sick of it!! I went to a meeting of a group of people who make their own absinthe, A non-poisonous version, one would hope. I tried only a tiny sip -- hey, who wants to go blind drinking hullucinagenic moonshine, right? It was a really interesting, eclectic group of people, really striking me as the bootleg equivelent of Trekkies. IOW, about like the rest of us . . . Yeah, more or less :) -k- __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Tits (a perspective)
--- Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: At 01:53 AM Friday 3/18/2005, kerri miller wrote: I'd have to agree, having just gt back from a trip to Las Vegas/Los Angeles a few weeks ago, surrounded by silicone-sculpted bodies everywhere we went! Perhaps someone ought to do a poll of the male population to find out whether more actually prefer the silicone-sculpted D-cup look or the natural (B-cup?) look? I'll vote natural. Given the rise of the vien of pornography featuring amatuer housewive hotties I'd say there's probably something to that. Still, its difficult to guage how ingrained the meme of bigger is better is in our social programming. -k- __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Easier than ever with enhanced search. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: quantum darwin?
The next step I want to consider is the work from the mid thirties to about the mid 60s. During this time, there were two developments that were important to our discussion of the foundation of QM. The first was the development of quantum field theory, or reletivistic quantum mechanics. The second is the development of Bohm's hidden variable theory of QM. Fortunately for us all, we don't need an expansive review of QED to obtain the points relevant to this discussion. QED is a relativistic quantum theory, consistent with special reletivity. Thus, it must be able to explictly handle the SR requirement that there are no faster than light signals. This might seem very difficult, since we've established that, in QM, the wave function can collapse over spacelike intervals. The answer lies in what is a signal. For example, we can make a spot on the moon travel faster than the speed of light. Shoot a laser at the moon and change it's angle. One can make the bright spot travel from one side of the moon to the other in a microsecondwhich is many times faster than the speed of light. But, no signal travels from one side of the moon to the other. No information can be sent on this moving point of light. That is the key definition of a signal that we need to consider. Can information be sent from one spot to another. With quantum superpositons, can I make a measurement of one of the particles and know whether or not my contemporary at the other end already made a measurement. The reason this is critical is that, for spacelike events, A, and B; A is before B in some reference frames, A and B are simulaneous in at least one reference frame, and B is before A in some reference frames. So,. there is no way one should be able to measure B and tell whether A has been measured...if A and B are spacelike. In reletivistic quantum mechanics, this is stated as Spacelike operators must commute. So, going back to our example of two spin 1/2 particles in a spin zero state, if we have call the operator for measuring the spin of particle 1: A and the operator for measuring the spin of particle 2: B, we find that if we perform A then B on the wavefunction BA(|+- + |-+)/sqrt(2) one gets |+- half of the time and |-+ half of the time. (the operator closest to the ket (which is what |s are called) operates first. If we perform B then A, we obtain exactly the same results. There is no difference in the results if you perform A then B or B then A. So, the operators do commute. If one could pass information, one would have a real working ansible. Fortunately, SF writers are able to modify the rules of QM, or we would have missed out on some pretty good novels. But, such things, like db's Uplift series are good fiction and bad science. :-) This theoretical development was a real step forward in the completeness of modern physics. Two theories of physics (SR and QM) are unified. A significant question about the completeness of QM has been answered. Still, there were a number of aestetic reasons why people wanted a more real theory. One of them who had a hunch that there were hidden variables that underlaid QM was David Bohm. In the '50s he developed a hidden variable theory of QM. It was considered fairly problematic at the time. There are several reasons for this. First of all, a physicist is suspicious of any hidden variable. Quarks were considered to be a mathematical convenience until jets were observed. These high transverse momentum events showed structure within protons and neutrons (the way the high angle scatters showed pointlike electrons in the Rutherford scattering experiment.) Now, quarks were very useful, even if they turned out to be a mathematical convenience. One can see the deucouplet in terms of the combination of three quarks: uuu uud udd udd uus uds dds uss dss sss Where u is the up quark, d is the down quark and s is the strange quark But, the order didn't need to come from structure within these hadrons; it could have been just a property of the system. But, two things happened, then. First, a fourth quark was predicted, and evidence for that fourth quark was found. Second, as mentioned above, jets were found. At this point, quarks became well established. It may seem funny for physicists to worry about something that sounds ontological; especially shut up and calculate physicists. Part of it, is a question of permanence. Mathematical conveniences can be dropped in a split second, when something slightly better comes along. Physicists do not want to say something exists and then say it doesn't, and then say it does, etc. Second, physicists are suspicious of really there, but you can't see it. The reason for this is that it's quite straightforward to develop a mechanism, such as the asymptotic freedom of quarks, to explain why these real things can never bee observed independently. If one allows the unconstrained existence of real but unobserved
Woobs (was: Tits (a womans perspective))
Dan Minette [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Deborah Harrell [EMAIL PROTECTED] But I think it's *appalling* that teenagers are given breast implants as 'graduation presents' snip I think I know of an exception. My daughter's friend is highly asymmetric because of birth defects. Among other things, she was born without an esophagus. The problem in question is that one breast developed normally, and one not at all. Her mother paid for one implant when she graduated. snip As Julia wrote, that is an exception (to my mind) as a birth defect was involved (similar to my friend whose medical condition did not allow her to develop at all in that regard). Julia also wrote: I think that it's a good idea to put off any sort of body-altering surgery until at least a few years after high school, if it's purely for cosmetic reasons. I agree. Debbi who dislikes that word intensely :P __ Do you Yahoo!? Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Woobs (was: Tits (a womans perspective))
Dan Minette [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Deborah Harrell [EMAIL PROTECTED] _Any_ surgery involving general anesthesia carries a small but definite risk of death. How pathetic to risk one's life to be well-endowed... Something hit me about this saying. Is the following statement true or false? Any horseback ride carries a small but definite risk of death. snort Not doin' it for cosmetic reasons, though! And of course, we risk death every time we get into a car, or go to the bank, or fly in an airplane. My point is not to eliminate the risk of death, but to reduce risking death *foolishly.* And -- what Julia said! grin Debbi Strappped Down For The Ride Maru ;D __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site! http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Woobs (was: Tits (a womans perspective))
kerri miller [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: snip Still, its something I may undertake at some point in the future.. and besides, who am I to judge the internal conflicts between someones self-perception and their external realities? Weeel, you certainly have the right to have an opinion on such conflicts, better than me! And I'd put your may undertake in the medical reason camp. Debbi Wind, Womb, Woobs And Wee Maru ;} __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site! http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Woobs (was: Tits (a womans perspective))
- Original Message - From: Deborah Harrell [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion brin-l@mccmedia.com Sent: Friday, March 18, 2005 4:51 PM Subject: Woobs (was: Tits (a womans perspective)) Dan Minette [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Deborah Harrell [EMAIL PROTECTED] _Any_ surgery involving general anesthesia carries a small but definite risk of death. How pathetic to risk one's life to be well-endowed... Something hit me about this saying. Is the following statement true or false? Any horseback ride carries a small but definite risk of death. snort Not doin' it for cosmetic reasons, though! I agree. But, I think that choosing horseback riding is inherently a matter of personal pleasure. I don't think it is unreasonable to take the risks inherent in horseback riding because one enjoys it. I've taken Girl Scouts horseback riding without worrying about the small but real chance of death. And of course, we risk death every time we get into a car, or go to the bank, or fly in an airplane. Sure, no arguement there. My point is not to eliminate the risk of death, but to reduce risking death *foolishly.* My point is that the risk of death is not what makes it foolish, it's the social pressure that makes a young woman feel she needs to be physically altered to feel good about herself (with exceptions like those we agreed upon here). I couldn't figure out why my friends would agree to this for their daughter, until my daughter told me why. So, we certainly agree it's a foolish action. What nudged me was the is this worth risking even a small chance of death for? arguement. Stated that way, personal enjoyment sounds like it's not worth risking one's life for. But, if the risks are small enough, a reasonable person could and should risk their life to, say, have an enjoyable evening. I might risk my life driving to the bookstore tonight. :-) If we didn't risk our lives like this, we'd live in a cocoon of fear. Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: dit-dot-dit
kerri miller [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: snippage throughout So I've been a quiet little primate around here recently, and as I was fuddling about with an old mail archive, I found some of my first postings to Brin-L from back in '97 or '98 (!) I cringe reading over the adolescent crap I've written over the years; *I* only have to go back a year or 2 for 'the cringies!' lop-sided grin One of them I guess I can talk about, and even ask a little philisophical irregulars Life Advice on. Early last month, I parted ways with Amazon.com.. ok, well, I was fired, by a boss I'd been having difficulty with for some months. Starting 2 weeks after I came out to him with my *ahem* situation, I started getting a series of negative reviews, work loads increasing, deadlines shortening, resources dwindling... Uhrrr, I suppose you don't want to get into a legal wrangle over this (although you might have grounds for it) -- that's rotten. Blah! So I've been dealing with that, this complex set of feelings about the entire affair -- aren't I more than my job? snip...quite frankly, I don't really feel much like working at the moment. I've been doing all the things that we're supposed to do in order to fulfill that bumper sticker quote live each day as if it were your last Sounds like you've done some good 'what's out there that I'd like to try?' work - As a group, it seems to me that Ronn's right, and an awful lot of us have been in (or still are) in a similar quandry. At what cost does one follow a dream? How do you detirmine when a dream is a directive, a demand, rather than an idle fantasy of what-ifs? Heck if I know...but I have to say that working with horses is the right thing for me right now; it's *so* not lucrative, but I'm happier than I was for a long time. shrug So I'd say, if it's _truly_ a dreamof yours -- go for it. Debbi Oprah Says Follow Your Bliss Maru __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site! http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Deathrisk (was: Woobs )
Dan Minette [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I wrote: Dan wrote: snippage throughout Is the following statement true or false? Any horseback ride carries a small but definite risk of death. snort Not doin' it for cosmetic reasons, though! I agree. I don't think it is unreasonable to take the risks inherent in horseback riding because one enjoys it. I've taken Girl Scouts horseback riding without worrying about the small but real chance of death. But as a riding instructor, I *am* aware of it, every single time I take a student out, or even when I just ride for my own pleasure. I don't _worry_ about it in the sense of being anxious or afraid that something awful might happen, but I am constantly vigilant for problems that might arise. (Frex earlier today I decided to take a lead rope with me 'in case Baron (the student's horse) gets too spooky' -- well, some kids on those damn motorized scooters tried to chase us, and if I hadn't put him on the line when I first heard the noise, he'd likely have bolted across 4 lanes of traffic.) My point is not to eliminate the risk of death, but to reduce risking death *foolishly.* My point is that the risk of death is not what makes it foolish, it's the social pressure that makes a young woman feel she needs to be physically altered to feel good about herself (with exceptions like those we agreed upon here). nods head in agreement So, we certainly agree it's a foolish action. What nudged me was the is this worth risking even a small chance of death for? arguement. Stated that way, personal enjoyment sounds like it's not worth risking one's life for. But, if the risks are small enough, a reasonable person could and should risk their life to, say, have an enjoyable evening. I might risk my life driving to the bookstore tonight. :-) AUUUGH! Entering a 1+ ton pile of metal with combustible matter strapped underneath, then _entrusting_your_life_ to some other crazy out there driving the same! Don't do it, Dan! Save yourself! If we didn't risk our lives like this, we'd live in a cocoon of fear. I *am* a bit more cautious now than when I was 20 or so - OTOH, one student laughs that she'd rather face an angry dog than 'the wrath of me'! ;) Debbi I Pity The Fool Maru ;} __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site! http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Tits
I vote for natural, too, except in cases where there is a deformity. Size doesn't matter for women as much as for men. I have no problem with plastic surgery, as long as there is no needless risk and the doctor is competent. Surgery techniques are improving (except for some doctors who should have their licenses revoked). My wife had breast reduction surgery and the scars are rather pronounced. I would recommend saline and to wait until after having her children when she needs the implants for support. I find a good shape more attractive than basketballs or watermelons. There are so many blondes with big tits it is no longer that much of a novelty. I am more interested in a woman I can have a conversation with, who is fit and trim. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Woobs (was: Tits (a womans perspective))
At 04:45 PM Friday 3/18/2005, Deborah Harrell wrote: Dan Minette [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Deborah Harrell [EMAIL PROTECTED] But I think it's *appalling* that teenagers are given breast implants as 'graduation presents' snip I think I know of an exception. My daughter's friend is highly asymmetric because of birth defects. Among other things, she was born without an esophagus. The problem in question is that one breast developed normally, and one not at all. Her mother paid for one implant when she graduated. snip As Julia wrote, that is an exception (to my mind) as a birth defect was involved (similar to my friend whose medical condition did not allow her to develop at all in that regard). Julia also wrote: I think that it's a good idea to put off any sort of body-altering surgery until at least a few years after high school, if it's purely for cosmetic reasons. I agree. Debbi who dislikes that word intensely :P Which word? Probably Missing Something Obvious Maru --Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Preople
http://www.preople.com/ Preople Rank Robert Seeberger 15,400 There are 4143 names in our database that have a higher Preople Ranking and 35108 names that have a lower Preople Ranking. Your ranking is based on how much people talk about you on the web. If this was your name and you want to work on your rating and end up even higher on the list we suggest you get published, get known, blog, post, link, create, mail, react, reply, connect and write! Getting people to talk about you is the only way to increase your rating... Preople Rank David Brin 124,000 There are 2011 names in our database that have a higher Preople Ranking and 37298 names that have a lower Preople Ranking. Your ranking is based on how much people talk about you on the web. If this was your name and you want to work on your rating and end up even higher on the list we suggest you get published, get known, blog, post, link, create, mail, react, reply, connect and write! Getting people to talk about you is the only way to increase your rating... Preople Rank Brad Delong 371,000 There are 1236 names in our database that have a higher Preople Ranking and 38094 names that have a lower Preople Ranking. Your ranking is based on how much people talk about you on the web. If this was your name and you want to work on your rating and end up even higher on the list we suggest you get published, get known, blog, post, link, create, mail, react, reply, connect and write! Getting people to talk about you is the only way to increase your rating... Preople Rank George Bush 4,050,000 There are 412 names in our database that have a higher Preople Ranking and 38927 names that have a lower Preople Ranking. Your ranking is based on how much people talk about you on the web. If this was your name and you want to work on your rating and end up even higher on the list we suggest you get published, get known, blog, post, link, create, mail, react, reply, connect and write! Getting people to talk about you is the only way to increase your rating... Most popular names at Preople Bill Gates 385 Boris Veldhuijzen Van Zanten 239 George Bush 175 Ellemijn Veldhuijzen Van Zanten 164 Caspar Wenckebach 142 xponent Whaddafu Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Woobs (was: Tits (a womans perspective))
Ronn!Blankenship wrote: At 04:45 PM Friday 3/18/2005, Deborah Harrell wrote: As Julia wrote, that is an exception (to my mind) as a birth defect was involved (similar to my friend whose medical condition did not allow her to develop at all in that regard). Julia also wrote: I think that it's a good idea to put off any sort of body-altering surgery until at least a few years after high school, if it's purely for cosmetic reasons. I agree. Debbi who dislikes that word intensely :P Which word? Probably Missing Something Obvious Maru --Ronn! :) I was wondering that as well. My guess is cosmetic. I don't mind the word so much as part of its meaning Especially the part that implies extra scents added to stuff so you end up smelling something you might be allergic to after one or another of your husband's female relatives gives you a hug. (Or, worse yet, hugs one of your young offspring, and you can't snuggle with that one until there's been a bath or change of clothes.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Woobs
Deborah Harrell wrote: Dan Minette [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Deborah Harrell [EMAIL PROTECTED] _Any_ surgery involving general anesthesia carries a small but definite risk of death. How pathetic to risk one's life to be well-endowed... Something hit me about this saying. Is the following statement true or false? Any horseback ride carries a small but definite risk of death. snort Not doin' it for cosmetic reasons, though! And of course, we risk death every time we get into a car, or go to the bank, or fly in an airplane. My point is not to eliminate the risk of death, but to reduce risking death *foolishly.* And -- what Julia said! grin Debbi Strappped Down For The Ride Maru ;D Heck, if you're a woman, sex carries a small but definite risk of death -- women die from complications of pregnancy or childbirth, not as often as they used to, but still occasionally, even in the countries with the best medicine Julia most acutely aware lately of the risk to the child that comes from being born too early -- 1 death, 2 babies in NICU I know of personally :( ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
