I hate how "adults" "hang out".

[vashti]

Nursing 'aids' I think is the term you are looking for... but in either case... RN's were just as lazy and indifferent to the needs of their residents.

Actually, no. In California, CNA = Certified Nursing Assistant. The working conditions in nursing homes are pretty much universally considered appalling, and they are ALWAYS short-staffed. A single RN is usually on staff for an entire nursing home full of residents, along with LVNs who are frequently staffed at 1:16 ratio, and a handful of CNAs. RNs are used in a supervisory role and to cover all the paperwork. The amount of contact they get with actual patients is limited, which is why nurses don't like working in them. As for lazy? Well, I don't see how it is humanly possible for nursing home nurses to be lazy with the patient loads they carry.

I'm glad you consider your children to be exceptional... but have you placed them against the background of national mediocrity to see if they truly stand out?

(I know it's in bad taste to brag, but what the hell?) My oldest kid was just admitted to the top-ranked public university in the world. They both have a strong history of volunteerism and social activism. Neither one has a history of drug or alcohol abuse or has had even the most minor run-in with the law. Both are respectful of adults and are easily reasoned with, neither of them are bullies, and I haven't had a problem with not liking their choices in friends. I'd say many parents couldn't say the same, though of course there is no national standard for me to compare against, but yes, I'd say as far as parenting goes, I've been EXTREMELY fortunate. My only issue with either of them has been with my daughter's medical issues.

[Doc Durian]

My only issue with either of them has been with my daughter's medical issues.

Not enough B-Group vitamins?

[doppelgaenger]

I personally like the strawman argument as well.

[vashti]

Not enough B-Group vitamins?

Haha - no. Although she is a vegetarian (not for moral reasons, but because she doesn't like meat), she has a seizure disorder.

[Doc Durian]

Haha - no. Although she is a vegetarian (not for moral reasons, but because she doesn't like meat), she has a seizure disorder.

That quote is a big meaty bone and I've got a flea to flick at you, but seizure disorders are for the dogs..

[vashti]

That quote is a big meaty bone and I've got a flea to flick at you, but seizure disorders are for the dogs..

Hah! Real funny. Never heard that one before, nor the one about the seizure salads.

[lesa]

To expect to feel remorse in such scenarios is a new learned concept -- something taught, not innately felt.

Don't you mean not feeling remorse in such scenarios is something taught--taught as okay and necessary way back when hunting was absolutely necessary?

[Aeradalia]

Don't you mean not feeling remorse in such scenarios is something taught--taught as okay and necessary way back when hunting was absolutely necessary?

No.. I don't, not in these scenarios. You have to learn empathy... then attribute that empathy to animals.. before you feel remorse for killing them for food. It's a recent trend for people to anthropomorphize animals --- a concept people would not have done back when hunting animals was absolutely necessary.

When I first learned how to slaughter, I was more fearful of not killing the animal quickly enough for fear that I was doing it wrong... as you were suppose to be merciful. That's what I was taught at a young age. I felt bad for the first slaughter... not because I was remorseful.. but because I had failed to kill it properly.

[Junket]

Too many posts.

Vegetarianism and especially veganism are simply a by product of luxurious living. It's simply your California culture, you're surrounded by people that think like you so it wouldn't make itself pronounced. There's nothing radical about a gun toting, Ron Paul voter until he wanders out of his neck of the woods and into yours.

Charlieboy, empathy is not innate. A child cannot even recognize human faces if it is not raise from birth with regular human contact. That's why they teach those lessons like "treat others the way you want to be treated" in elementary school.

Which brings me back full circle to: we need to continue to kill animals because there's no good reason not to.

[lesa]

I can understand why religion was created. ( another topic. sorry guys.)

[Aeradalia]

I can understand why religion was created. ( another topic. sorry guys.)

Don't you dare!

Didn't expect this topic to get this far... a topic of that magnitude could go on forever...

[Junket]

Don't you dare!

Didn't expect this topic to get this far... a topic of that magnitude could go on forever...

They always do.

We've even already had this hunting/gun debate a hundred times before.

[Charlie Boy II]

Empathy is controlled by mirror neurons in the brain. I suppose mirror neurons are also a social construct?

Just because a baby is not born with a fully developed sense of empathy doesn't mean that that quality is socially installed. It is a question of brain development.

Coordination, speech, the ability to express abstract ideas, to form friendships, to delay immediate pleasure for future gain, to plan - children develop these over time and the form they take is indeed influenced by their environment. That does NOT mean they are social constructs. And I don't think anyone in their right mind would try and argue they are.

[Mish]

Which brings me back full circle to: we need to continue to kill animals because there's no good reason not to.

Humans are animals too, if it's okay to kill animals, why not kill humans as well? Once you say killing is okay, it's hard to draw the line.

[Charlie Boy II]

There actually very strong arguments for all of us converting to vegetarianism. Producing meat is environmentally costly and vastly less efficient than producing crops and vegetables.

We could feed many more people more easily if we did not produce meat.