GrreatTeacher

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Posts by GrreatTeacher

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  20

  JUst wondering if the Funeral will be at Kingdom Hall

  by ShirleyW in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  probably not, since his mom already passed and no other family members are jws.

  was he officially dfd or he just walked away, don't remember.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Under the radar, he was born Prince Rogers Nelson and was called Brother Nelson, I believe.
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  150

  Evolution: The Deal Breaker

  by Hadriel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  first off i do believe there are some evidences of evolution or i should probably say adaptation.

  i do believe this exists in various forms.. however the deal breaker for me with evolution is the chick or egg problem.

  there are tons of theories that get passed around as proof of evolution however these are usually examples much further down the evolutionary chain.. what i mean is let's start at the beginning!

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  GrreatTeacher

  Who's claimed that evolution has stopped?
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  150

  Start A Butterfly Garden!

  by Bonsai in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  time to take a break from debating religion.

  take in a breath of fresh air and be healed by the wonders of nature around you.. how many of you have a garden?

  how many have a nice flower patch to go with your vegetable garden?

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  GrreatTeacher

  Oh, no, not weasels!

  I think I'll take my chances with the squirrels. LOL!

  My neighbor used to trap and release them in the woods until we found out they were endangered Delmarva Fox Squirrels and must be left alone.

  Now they reproduce with impunity in the squirrel haven I have accidently produced on my property!
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  150

  Start A Butterfly Garden!

  by Bonsai in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  time to take a break from debating religion.

  take in a breath of fresh air and be healed by the wonders of nature around you.. how many of you have a garden?

  how many have a nice flower patch to go with your vegetable garden?

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  GrreatTeacher

  Well, what a terrible surprise this morning. My beautiful tulips were all chewed off right under the heads!

  I'm guessing it was the squirrels.

  I've cut the last one and put it in a vase on my table. I should have done it earlier and I would've had a nice bouquet.

  Well, anyhow, it's nice to finally get outside in the sunshine today. The cat is climbing the pear tree to catch a bird. I can't wait to see his face when it flies away!
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  40

  Are speeding tickets issused in your area???

  by James Mixon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i haven't seen anyone stopped for speeding on our freeways in some time.. wth it's dangerous out there, i'm driving 69-72 mph and someone pass me at 80-85 mph.. here in southern ca it,s crazy.

  the speed limits are 65-70 mph.

  i'am nervous as hell when i'am on the.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Exactly, paladin. Smart speeders stay behind other fast cars.

  If there's room to maneuver on the highway and a very fast car comes up behind me, my motto is, "Go ahead with your bad self! Volunteer for that ticket!" and I let them pass.

  Then I follow behind.

  In my story above, there was literally no room to maneuver.
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  40

  Are speeding tickets issused in your area???

  by James Mixon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i haven't seen anyone stopped for speeding on our freeways in some time.. wth it's dangerous out there, i'm driving 69-72 mph and someone pass me at 80-85 mph.. here in southern ca it,s crazy.

  the speed limits are 65-70 mph.

  i'am nervous as hell when i'am on the.

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  GrreatTeacher

  So, Maryland allows drivers to drive in the left lane at the speed limit and does not require them to yield to faster traffic.

  I wonder if this is because of the amount of left exits. There are a significant amount of them which requires all vehicles exiting to move to the left lane (fast lane) to exit.

  Everybody hates them because they slow traffic down, but the roads are so dense and criss-crossed that sometimes they are the only solution.

  I generally speed, like most drivers in Maryland. When I am in the fast lane going faster than the other 3 lanes of traffic (and probably directly behind another vehicle), do not come up behind me flashing your highbeams and tailgating me to make me move. First off, I am speeding as fast as traffic allows and there's nowhere for me to go, and secondly, your riding my ass with your highbeams on in an attempt to annoy me is only going to piss me off.

  The last time this happened, I tolerated the deliberate and continuous use of highbeams at night for a few miles and then I slammed on my brakes. The lady behind me had to run off the road to avoid hitting me. Had she rearended me, it would've been her fault per traffic laws. She got back on the road and caught up to me, but she coudn't get around me because there was so much traffic there was literally no way. She engaged in angry, erratic lane changes behind me, but could never get ahead for the next 30 miles. I finally had to exit and she blew around me, flipping me the bird, but she had gotten absolutely nowhere in all of that time.

  My vehicles are old, so go ahead and rear-end me. Her car was new, however, so hitting me would've been bad for her. The same principle applies when you have to merge onto an interstate that is crawling. The only way to do it is to cut someone off. You always pull out in front of a nice, expensive vehicle. They are going to do anything to avoid a collision.

  These are the kinds of problems that happen when roads are so crowded that normal road rules can't be followed. Yes, I'm going to have to cut you off in order to merge on on the highway. The only worse thing is when someone comes to a dead stop when they're having trouble merging into traffic. That really screws traffic up and causes rear-end collisions.
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  40

  Are speeding tickets issused in your area???

  by James Mixon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i haven't seen anyone stopped for speeding on our freeways in some time.. wth it's dangerous out there, i'm driving 69-72 mph and someone pass me at 80-85 mph.. here in southern ca it,s crazy.

  the speed limits are 65-70 mph.

  i'am nervous as hell when i'am on the.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Yeah, that's bad when stuff falls off trucks. They've got a covered load law in Maryland, but that doesn't prevent kicking up rocks that crack your windshield.

  Once my husband was driving and kicked up a big piece of sheet metal that hit the windshield and broke his windshield and caused him to wreck.

  We found out it came under Comprehensive instead of Collision so there was no deductible and the insurance paid for everything.

  It was a great truck that ran a few more years until he wrecked it for good. That time there was no fixing it.
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  150

  Start A Butterfly Garden!

  by Bonsai in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  time to take a break from debating religion.

  take in a breath of fresh air and be healed by the wonders of nature around you.. how many of you have a garden?

  how many have a nice flower patch to go with your vegetable garden?

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  GrreatTeacher

  The dandelions were out, but they all lost their heads when my hubby mowed the lawn, today.

  I always feel a little bad about that...
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  40

  Are speeding tickets issused in your area???

  by James Mixon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i haven't seen anyone stopped for speeding on our freeways in some time.. wth it's dangerous out there, i'm driving 69-72 mph and someone pass me at 80-85 mph.. here in southern ca it,s crazy.

  the speed limits are 65-70 mph.

  i'am nervous as hell when i'am on the.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Actually, the absolute worst is driving a single lane road and then a tractor pulls out in front of you. If it's a manure spreader, even worse!
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  33

  Where and What. . . IS THE EVIDENCE for "Mental ILLNESS"? ? ?

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have no interest whatsoever in stirring up controversy.. in fact, i find clashes of opinion to be debilitatingly negative.. so, i'd simply like to request that we narrow this discussion to evidence.. please watch this video which is tantalizingly titled :.

  "there's no such thing as mental illness".. consider this data and listen to the presentation of cause vs. effects and give me your analysis and any evidence for conclusions you may draw.

  we all have anecdotal tendencies, but i should remind you, anecdotal testimony isn't evidence, only opinion.________________________________________.

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  GrreatTeacher

  And, in my personal experience as a mostly successfully treated bipolar patient, he can take his cognitive behavioral therapy as ultimate solution and shove it up his ass.

  This infuriates me. CBT can often be helpful for those with "garden variety" depression (not to underestimate the suffering). Sometimes the depression remits and sometimes medication is also necessary. Patients are often able to go off the medication after some time.

  I'm not even going into the discussion about so many people being diagnosed with depression. It may or may not be true. Personally, but unprofessionally,I think the American way of life is extraordinarily stressful and we might need a culture change.

  What I am going to talk about is severe mental illness like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, and the good news is that we've come a long way, baby. These illnesses were an institutionalization sentence 50 or so years ago. Shock therapy was brutal, but one of the only treatments available.

  Because of pharmaceutical advancements, these patients, for the first time in history are allowed to lead quasi-normal lives. Hardly anyone requires permanent hospitalization anymore.

  Lest someone misunderstand how great a miracle is, let me give you my personal account of a psychiatric hospitalization. I, like most patients, was only hospitalized for a short stay (about a week) to find a combination of medications that would work for me.

  The ward is locked. You may have personal clothes, but things like shoelaces and razorblades are only given to you after proving that you are not a danger to yourself. That means no shaving of your legs and armpits, ladies, or your face, gentlemen. (Oh, and if you arrived via the emergency room, they took your clothes, including your underwear, and gave you a heavy apron to wear.) If you earn it, you can go outside in an enclosed courtyard for fresh air twice a day. Someone physically checks on you every 15 minutes night and day. Any quiet time in your room is punctuated by a staff member popping in every 15 minutes saying, "checks!" You line up for your medication, take it with water in a little paper cup and show your mouth after you are done to make sure the pills went down. You do see a doctor daily. Lights are out when they say they are out. You get up when they say to get up. You can't lock the bathroom door. you just have to hope that other patients respect a closed door when you are showering. Maybe you have earned a razor and can shave your legs!

  Everything is done for your safety, but it's all rather humiliating.I shudder to think that people with my diagnosis used to live out their lives in institutions. I was there a week, but I saw a doctor daily and we found a good combination of medication that started to work. They keep you safe and force you to get out of bed, to eat, to wash, to take your meds.

  Then, you move to day hospital. You sleep at home, but drive back to the day hospital program for about 6 hours a day. You are educated about your illnesses, the types of medication you take, you do group therapy.
  it's like a seminar that keeps you busy and educates you during the day. I was there for 5 weeks! All day, every weekday, over an hours' drive each way. You see the doctor less frequently to fine tune medication dosages, and you work with a social worker to plan community mental health care. You also learn to monitor your mental health and grade it daily on a 1 - 10 scale. Once your illness severity rates a 4 or less, you go home.

  Once I went home, I saw an outpatient psychiatrist and a therapist. I started seeing the therapist 3 times a week, then twice a week for several weeks, then once a week, then once every two weeks, etc. until I was able to function in the community, again.

  This is a best case scenario. It's very expensive and I was fortunate to have healthcare insurance so i could go to an excellent private hospital. The public hospital has a horrid reputation and some of the other patients had been there and had terrible tales to tell.

  But, it's only through the miracle of modern psychiatric pharmaceuticals that leaving the hospital and living at home is even possible. A half century ago, and that hospital may have been my home.

  So, I am livid at videos like this that misunderstand the types of treatment protocols that are considered best practices, and devalue the very drugs that are literally lifesavers and also allow those with serious mental illnesses to live relatively normal lives in the community.

  Cancer treatments make your hair fall out and nearly kill you, but they can also allow you to beat the disease and live. Psychiatric medications can have awful side-effects and they can surely stress your liver, but they allow you to live with the disease in your community and function. How is that a bad thing?

  Ill-informed opinions like this are infuriating. Psych meds are crude in many ways, like chemo, so we have to allow science to find better drugs. This type of video aids in reducing support for scientific research, whether public or private. He seemed to dislike both. I won't belabor the best source of funding here, but it has to go on. People's lives depend on it.