Thanks for posting! We just looked at it with the Galileoscope and could see rings. Barely, but they were there. Awesome!

There has been lots of discussion in the recent past about how effective vaccines are in the elderly. It is clear that they don't work as well as they do in younger people, because older folks seem to have less immune response. This is the main reason for the big push to vaccinate kids and younger people. Vaccinating kids would decrease the rate of transmission of flu and protect the elderly, who get less benefit from the shot. But the degree to which the elderly are protected really isn't known, and there are many conflicting studies. Here's one: NEJM I think WHO's 80% claim is too high, and Natural News' claim of 1% is too low. For young adults and kids, it would be higher than for the elderly . One thing really jumps out at me regarding the study you cited. They only looked at deaths during the flu non-season. I don't know why they did it, but it's well known that the vaccine is often only good for a few months. After that time, either immunity wanes, or the flu has mutated and isn't covered by the vaccine anymore. I wouldn't expect much protection from the vaccine 9 months later. A similar study that looks at seasonal flu makes more sense.

This one is grown in eggs as well, but there is a different vaccine in the works that isn't. As far as egg allergy goes,

It is NOT a live virus vax. The article makes this claim. According to WHO,

Oops, you're right, That was for tags.

The mods outed someone once.

I wonder if the rater is aware that the moderators know who they are.

Really good points. I worry about those things too.

Overbooked kids? Nah, it's parents who stress This matches what I'm seeing. When my kids were little I decided I'd let them pick one activity per year. I was worried about "overbooking". HA. That lasted until they were about 6. I'm glad I gave in. They are very busy, but thriving.

One way to do it is to look at neighborhood data- I forget what it's called but it's a database used for marketing surveys. If you only invite those in the higher SES areas, or people living in certain school districts, you're going to have extremely skewed data. It would be very sneaky. But it could easily be done. If they don't describe how the sample was selected in the report, it's suspect.

We didn't do Bear Country because we heard nothing but negative reports. Reptile Gardens was cool though.

We liked the Reptile Gardens, Custer State Park, the Badlands, Wind Cave, and hiking to Sylvan Peak. The kids loved the trail ride in the Badlands, although I found it terrifying. We also did some rock hunting in the Badlands and found some very cool rocks. You have to have permission and do it on private property though. You can't collect anything from the state park.

I all depends on how they got their sample, and what the participation rate was. If they picked a true random sample and had a high participation rate, the results could be valid. If they cherry picked the sample, or had low participation, the results are useless. I'm guessing useless, but we'll see. It's awfully difficult to do these studies well.

Yes. The risk is lower than through aerosol transmission (sneezing, coughing, etc.), but there is still a risk.

I would think since "none" is being used as a collective noun, it would use a plural verb. This is what wiki says:

Not in my world. Know what my gifted 15 yo dd did in her "Business for Teens" class today? She flat ironed her hair. Stretching and intellectual challenges. Ha!

Because talking to people like that alienates them, even when you're in the right.

These responses are helping me think this through. Thanks. I am fully accepting that there is risk involved in a sport, and have kind of a "suck it up" approach to whining about discomfort. I can imagine whining and complaining would be very frustrating for coaches and teachers, and thankfully, my kids don't do much of that. I can see where pushing someone farther, harder, more... is useful and necessary if you are going to improve at something. Forcing seems off limits. Seems like this teacher doesn't know the difference. The injured girl is someone the teacher frequently uses for demonstration, because she is extremely flexible. It doesn't make sense to me that you would "force" someone further if they are already more flexible than everyone else. I would also think you'd be much more cautious about pushing someone's back. Straining a leg muscle is usually minor. A back injury can be for life. And I am realizing that the problem is that this teacher is showing a pattern of poor judgment, and now it has resulted in someone being hurt. This gives me some ideas about what to say to the studio owner.

That would be my preference. But I'm not sure telling the studio owner that is going to help my case any.

I've posted about this dance teacher before. I'm already really irritated with her because of comments she's made about the girls' diet and weight, and her obsession with getting girls into pointe before they're ready, among other annoying things she's done and said. Now, she appears to have actually injured someone. She was having one of my dds' classmates demonstrate a scorpion Without warning, she pushed up on her leg, and as a result this girl has an injured back. I don't know details, but the orthopedic surgeon told her if she isn't better in 6 months, she'll need surgery. I don't know this girl's mom, and don't know if she has communicated the issue to the studio owner. But this is unacceptable. I don't want her touching my kids. But I don't know how much "touching" or "forcing" is common or acceptable in dance, or gymnastics, or whatever. She's having the girls pair up and do stretching exercises, encouraging them to force each other past what is comfortable. Is that normal? My instinct is you shouldn't ever do "forced" stretching (is their a technical word for that?) but I'm not an athlete. My friends and I want to discuss this with the studio owner, but I want to be prepared with what reasonable expectations are. Obviously, forcing to the point of causing a back injury is NOT ok. But how about pushing down on someone's legs when they're doing that butterfly thing? How do you know where to draw the line? Or should we just say we don't trust her, so she needs to keep her hands off? I'd especially like to hear from any dance/gymnastics teachers or athletic trainers/physical therapists. We've been happy with this studio for years, until they hired this nutcase. She is the only dance teacher for this level ballet, so switching teachers or classes is not an option. My dds live for dance, and I want to try every avenue possible before giving up on the studio.

We cured my old dog of counter surfing by setting up a booby trap, like this. Place some tasty meat on the kitchen bench. Tie some cord to the meat and at the other end tie some empty tin cans with some pebbles or coins in them. When your dog counter surfs to grab the meat he will get a nasty surprise when the tin cans come crashing down. Ideally you will be there to witness this happen. You should immediately say "ah ah!!" and snatch the meat away before your dog eats it (most dogs drop the meat when the cans come crashing down). You can also buy some foul tasting substances at your local pet store for this purpose. Put some of this liquid on the "bait" and wait for your dog to try to steal it. The idea is that the food from benchtops will become unappealing to your dog and therefore he will discontinue his thieving as there is nothing in it for him. Another method I have used with success with my cheeky whippet "Pocky" involves a water pistol. This method requires you to spy on your dog and then provide an unpleasant consequence to any thieving behavior - the instant it happens. If you spot your dog counter surfing the bench give her a shot of water to the face and a stern "No!". Once again this will stun your dog (not hurt her). The idea is to jump out from around the corner and surprise your dog just as she is in the act of counter surfing - but before she actually eats the food.

I paid $180 last year, and most of that was for the anesthesia. I thought it was reasonable. Have you asked around? I know rates vary tremendously around here.

This is how I handle it too. My oldest has had occasional disrespectful spells. The first time she started acting like this was after we gave her unlimited texting and she went slightly nuts for awhile. We took it away, and things went back to normal. Now all I have to say is if you speak to me in that tone of voice again say goodbye to your toys for a week (meaning the phone, ipod, computer). She snaps right out of it.

Well, that was easy. i bought a couple cans of the cheap stuff, expecting I'd end up throwing it away but after staring at it and circling it a few times both cats gobbled it down. And it wasn't even disgusting to clean up. I expected stinkier and slimier. :thumbup:

Okay, I'm ready to try my cats on a canned/raw diet. I'm a little grossed out at washing out the bowls twice a day. Ewww. Can they be fed straight out of the can? Or is there a sharp edge?