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What about using activated charcoal packs? I understand it adsorbs 80 times its molecular weight; they would sink, then could be towed up. It is used in many biological applications.

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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Both my husband and myself are disabled, and you would not believe how much useless mail we get, separately but identically, from DHS. The average content of the mail is a three to four page, usually purposeless as far as we are concerned, and the same from month to month. Why not send mail when there is a change, rather than repeating status quo statements? Three of the letters we receive tell us, month after month, that we "owe 0.00". How much money could be painlessly snipped from the budget?

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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What about the older notion of "vocation," the idea that each person's capacities are geared to a particular function that will fulfill them. Some people refer to it as a calling, something that holds you to the work regardless of other considerations like money, etc. When I lived in Europe, I noticed this more often in countries where the jobs like physician, etc, were not characterized by terribly high incomes.

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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Am I correct in assuming that, in the past, involuntary committment was an "easier" process? If so, for what reasons was it made more difficult? Perhaps those reasons still exist?

posted 2 years, 12 months ago
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It seems that, in order to have rich businesspeople, a Republican may be the best bet. But, isn't that just more of the good old trend that so many Americans are questioning as the main purpose of our Country? What if "rich Rich" aren't the healthiest future for our children's inheritance?

posted 3 years ago
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You are right, I believe. The word "god" is not a personal name, which is what throws the wild card in.  It refers to the mighty one, essentially, in any language. If we are talking about anything, it is only possible to gain a level footing if we agree on our terms. How could anyone say "chairs are uncomfortable" because his chairs are?  I think the character of the one you call "god" is the vital issue. Even when you use a personal name like Jesus, it is very simple to make him into whatever you want. I guess maybe you have to fall back onto his advice: "By their fruits you will know them."

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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Thank you for answering my question. Does "mob" behaviour somehow relate to what happens in genocide?

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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Mr. Wiener said that the thing that turned the emailer's grandfather from an otherwise decent man into the monster of the Nazi, was fear. Can education cure fear?

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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As a pacifist by conviction, I would never carry a gun. However, the right to do so is critical to a free nation, and I would MUCH rather see immediately who is carrying a gun than not. Upfront and honest.

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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All children are abusers, and they learn by meeting others who do not allow it. If they do not meet anyone who refuses to allow it they become abusers when sufficient pressure is applied.  The name of the worldview is "survival of the fittest."

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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Though certainly no expert, I did grow up in a violent home and bear physical scars from it, and it seems to me to be a no-brainer:  more stress always increases violence, especially in a home situation. Wouldn't it be easy to ask the people who are abused, if it gets worse when the money is tight or gone? Duh.

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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I wonder whose life is worth more, a police officer's or an ordinary citizen's?  My brother and his wife have been police officers for more than twenty years. He believes that his trust requires that he give his own life before an innocent life is taken,  and he has many decorations for NOT using deadly force in situations where he had the legal, reasonable right to kill. A human's life should be protected by more than a "reasonable" decision.

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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For reasons too lengthy to go into here, my mother raised me to be very skeptical of uniforms. As a young woman, I have been pulled over late at night for ABSOLUTELY no violation, and kept sitting in my car while the policeman did whatever he did. These experiences cemented my fear, not of the policies, but of the persons given that authority. I don't think we really face a policy problem, but a social crisis, where unstable people are among those seeking positions of trust. By no means does this paint the whole scene, my brother and his wife are both decorated, superb, police officers. There are the best, and, I think, the worst, represented in the "force."

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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Raised in exclusively classical appreciation, my very first breakup made me understand, for the first time, the purpose of country music. "I lost my girl, lost my dog, lost my wheel, etc."  In fact, I wrote a song in virgin sorrow, whose words have served me ever since!  "What does it mean when someone says forever? What does it mean when they say I love you? What does it mean when you're given a treasure, a heart and a hand and a soul to cling to?  What can I say except I've lived forever, for I've seen forever end. Eternity's shorter than I thought it would be, for I've lived forever again!"  Not good music, but the words still serve!

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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Religion is a unique prejudice. Those who are intolerant often believe the "offender" to be  in league with "evil." Is it reasonable to ask people to just lay aside their deepest fear? We seem to be in a place similar to the intolerance manifested during the very beginnings of our nation, except at that time it was Puritans intolerant of non-puritans; the only solution that ultimately worked was separation. The states were actually formed for just such principle differences.     Can we see it as a non-failure, if we must simply allow faiths to have their own schools recognized by the government?

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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Those opposed to beginning with the smallest of changes are deluding themselves; if they are unwilling to make tiny sacrifices, can they honestly imagine they will be willing to make large ones?

I have several fair trade baskets which I use to market. Sometimes I do forget to take them, and then fall back on paperbags from the market. If they were not available, I would soon learn.

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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If I understand correctly, the objection posited by the military leadership is that the presence of the homosexual in the close ranks of battle would cause difficulty, either in attitudes of other soldiers, or in sexual dimensions. I hope the objection is not in the realm of abilities, since the great historian Will Durant mentions the phenomenal skill of the ancient Greek homosexual units.

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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Pardon me. I did not mean to imply that the Haitians were in any way to be blamed; merely that all humans live in some degree of conflicting attitudes. Some aspects promote constructive life, and some destructive. I was merely asking one who might know, whether there were any aspect of the culture that might be promoting some form of fatalism, which, if it were turned to life, might make the difference between successful change and moderate helplessness. Sorry if any offense was given.

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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I think it's marvelous that people have been human, and had compassion on our brethren in Haiti. But I keep hearing about "resilience," there is hope because the Haitians are resilient.  I wonder, though, if the truth might be a little different.  Sometimes the trait called resilience is fatalism. They are going to be fine, because they expect no more of life than suffering, no more of life than to live in a tent on the street, no more of life than to be hungry.

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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I sympathize with those who will have to give up some of their profits. It is hard to give up money which you have justly earned, however, my husband and I are both post-graduates, but early disabled and living entirely on disability: 1100 per month.  That is our problem and no one elses. 

State medical is not given free to us, even though we pay nothing. We signed our home over to them. Now we can no longer even get glasses, or proper dental care. Where is the answer to this?

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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