What would qualify as "whatever other marriages people want to enter into"? I am assuming that marriage would only be permitted between consenting adults and I am having a hard time imagining what the other configurations might be.

How is society forcing you to accept that homosexuality is normal and acceptable behavior? The general consensus in society may be that homosexuality is normal and acceptable, but how are you being forced to accept that conclusion? You are free to continue believing that homosexuality is a sin. You are free to refrain from engaging in homosexual acts. There is no law forcing you to do otherwise. ETA: The law is simply preventing one from harming others - it is prohibiting businesses from discriminating against LBGT individuals. As the old adage goes, "Your liberty to swing your fist ends where my nose begins."

It is the nature of their business (which they chose to engage in) that requires their presence at the event.

I agree that a photographer or wedding coordinator should not be forced to "participate" in a gay marriage as I am quite opposed to shot-gun weddings - however, I fully support their right to enter into a same-sex marriage if they wish to do so. (In case the tongue-in-cheek is not clear, I'm attempting to point out - with a touch of humor - that the only participants in the marriage ceremony are the couple exchanging vows and the officiant.) The photographer is taking photographs of an event. The wedding coordinator is organizing the logistics of an event. A soloist who is hired to sing or perform music during the ceremony would be performing at an event. There is nothing sacred about snapping photographs, organizing the flow of people, or even singing a song (although the song may be about sacred topics). It's easy to tell the difference between those who are participating in the marriage (couple & officiant) and those who are not: absent those who are participating in the marriage, there is no marriage. Without the photographer, wedding coordinator, soloist, etc., there is still a valid marriage. Thus, they are not participants in the marriage. They are simply professionals hired to enhance an event.

busymama7, this passage has been quoted and responded to a lot. I am quoting it again because it sums up the argument I hear most often. If you are a baker who bakes wedding cakes, the government is not forcing you to engage in homosexual sex acts, endorse homosexuality, or even attend a same-sex wedding. The only thing that the government is requiring you to do is to bake a cake. There is nothing sacred about a cake, even one that is intended to be eaten in celebration of a couple exchanging wedding vows.

I know there have been really helpful threads here in the past where EMTs and others offered advice on medical alert indicators. I remember that the general consensus was that a bracelet is best because that's the first place people look, and that an indicator that states the medical issue is better than a flash drive with information. But I was looking online and there are various types of jewelry that are designed to make it less obvious that you're wearing a medical alert bracelet - various charms, etc. So I wanted to know what exactly paramedics and other medical personnel look for. A particular color? A particular symbol?

One of the huge problems with the failure of the prosecutor here to indict Darren Wilson is the fact that the evidence will never come out and be fully vetted. If this had gone to trial - with a competent prosecutor and defense - eyewitnesses would have taken the stand and given testimony under oath where they could have been cross-examined and questioned about any discrepancies in their statements and any physical evidence that appeared contradictory. The entire nation would have had a much more thorough and accurate understanding of the facts of the case. Instead, we are stuck with trying this matter in the press, where witnesses are misquoted, relevant questions are not asked, etc. I have seen a few people on this thread mention that Michael Brown was shot in the front of his body, so he must have been running at, charging at or otherwise moving toward Darren Wilson in a threatening manner. (I am quoting you because it was the most recent.) My understanding is that DW shot off a dozen bullets, of which about half struck MB. Is it not possible that MB was running away from DW until DW opened fire, and at that point MB stopped, raised his hands, and turned toward DW to surrender? That is consistent with the eyewitness testimony that I have heard. ETA: Here is an article from today that describes the testimony of at least four different eye witnesses - all of whom give different accounts as to whether MB was kneeling, standing, walking, hands up, hands down, etc. The article is also unclear as to whether there were other witnesses and what their memory is - do most of the eyewitnesses give similar accounts? are there only a few outliers? or are the accounts all over the place with no consensus? The article also says "In announcing the grand jury's decision not to indict Wilson on Monday, McCulloch talked about the problems inherent in eyewitness accounts. He said that many people who saw the shooting 'truly believe' their version of events 'even in the face of their testimony being in conflict with the physical evidence.'" This is accurate - eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable, and personally if I were sitting on a jury I would never convict solely on the basis of eyewitness testimony without other corroborating evidence. However, this is an argument that defense attorneys make, not prosecutors. Prosecutors are often willing to indict, and go to trial if necessary, based on nothing more than the eyewitness testimony of a single witness. (I once lost a callback interview at the DAs office because I was hesitant when asked if I would bring a case against a person when the only evidence was a single eyewitness' testimony.)

From a practical standpoint, if you are the only relatives from your side of the family who are being invited, will you know anyone else at the wedding? Will you enjoy yourselves if you don't know anyone else there (other than the bride and her parents, who you will only see briefly)?

I loved it - and that was even being stuck viewing it at a distorted angle from the first row because the rest of the theater was packed! (We managed to get the kids decent seats up higher in the theater.) I thought the visuals were haunting (I won't describe details since you haven't seen it yet). I thought the acting was excellent. But Mockingjay may have been my favorite of the three books. It wasn't after the first time I read it, but I came to a greater appreciation for it after a second and third read. At first, I didn't like it because it was so different from the first two books. It is so much darker, delving into war and PTSD. And I was prepared for that dark turn in the movie. I actually think the movie surpassed the book. The PTSD was there, but it wasn't at the forefront all of the time. It hit the right notes for me. And I was also glad they split the book into two movies - I think the first and second halves of the book felt very different, and it would have been too rushed to try to squeeze it all in to two hours. I'd actually like to go and see it again (from a normal viewing angle) - and it's rare for me to go to the movies, let alone want to see the same movie in the theaters twice.

I'm not familiar with Whimzees, but the best alternative to rawhide that I have found are antlers. No worries about splintering, no mess. Excellent for teeth cleaning. They seem expensive, but they last a year or more with my dog who chews on them daily. They're *really* expensive at my local pet store, so I order them from here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/WSPuppyeyes

Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, applied twice a day. It says cuticle cream but it works remarkably well on any dry skin areas. It comes in a little tin, but you only need to apply a little at a time so it goes a long way. You can also apply other moisturizers over top of it, if you wish.

For those of you who are artists or who have children who are artists, at what age did you/they start painting and drawing from nude live models?

I had pet insurance on my last dog - two different plans. The first plan dropped us when we submitted too many routine expenses for reimbursement, even though the plan we purchased was designed to cover those costs. The second plan was a crisis-only plan that we planned to use only in the case of big expenses. Then, it covered only a portion of the "reasonable costs" - not the actual costs charged by our vet. So it ended up covering only about 40% of the costs. It wasn't worth the years of premiums. So I don't buy pet insurance any more.

Try this link - how to check your account for digital credits: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&gcIsProcess=0&docId=1000811661#gc

Imagine that we were trying to teach a basic command, like sit or down. We'd pick up the frisbee, which would immediately get pup's attention on us. We'd ask pup to sit or lie down (or whatever command we were trying to teach). After he had done so, we'd say good! (and OK if he required a release) and throw the frisbee. Pup would retrieve and bring it back to us. Repeat. It's really the same as training with treats, but instead of giving the dog a treat we'd throw the frisbee - that was his treat. I hope that makes sense!

We had a pup who was not food motivated, but was extremely frisbee motivated. We trained with the frisbee. One item to add to your list: hot dogs, cut into very small chunks. There was another food that our trainer recommended that was extremely smelly that dogs are supposed to love, but I'm drawing a blank - I'll try to think what it was.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: I don't have any good advice, but I can empathize. The same is true here and I have struggled to understand it as well. When I suggest getting together, people seem genuinely happy to do so - they're not making excuses and avoiding me. But I always have to initiate. And I see that they get together with other mutual friends, so one of them is taking the initiative there. It would just be nice to know that my presence and friendship was wanted enough to result in an occasional invitation. In the past ten years, I had one good friend who would call me and invite me places, but unfortunately their family moved away. I mostly chalk it up to busy lives and let it go - most of the moms around here work full time, so there isn't as much of an opportunity to get together. What upsets me more is when the same thing happens to my kids. They have friends who have a great time when they get together. The friends always accept our invitations. But they never invite my kids over. I'm stumped. I don't get it. You're not alone.

Actually, that might be a good idea for class parents who are collecting for a group gift - organize different parents to bring in a different item towards the meal.

I've never had problems deferring holiday celebrations when needed. For me, the importance of the holiday is not the calendar day but the people and traditions. If the meal was being deferred to Friday, I'd probably be doing meal prep, cleaning, etc. then maybe go out to see a movie or cuddle up and watch Netflix, play a game with dh or read a good book.

One thing that I am doing for family gifts that I think would also work well for teacher gifts, is that I purchased glass plates ($10 for 6 dinner plates at Bed Bath & Beyond, or you could get the smaller salad/dessert plates) and I am going to etch their last name initial onto the bottom. Put a few homemade goodies or a box of crackers and wrapped cheese on top and it's a lovely gift for a couple dollars each.

I think the week trial will clue you in to any significant behavioral issues, but bear in mind that there can be an extended "honeymoon period" until you'll see her full personality. After we rescued our dog, although he was friendly and overall well behaved, it took up to a year until his full personality came out (progressively over time). I'd imagine that to be even more true of an adolescent dog whose personality is maturing anyhow.

Two other little things ... You don't need a clicker necessarily. You can use a pen with a push button top (which has a gentler sound) or make a clicking or other sound (e.g., "yes" or "good") yourself. I prefer that method because then there's no clicker to misplace. What we did to get our pup to love his crate was to randomly drop treats in it. He'd go in and discover them and the crate became "the place where treats magically appear." And we'd do the same thing when he was in it - if he was laying quietly, we'd drop in treats.

If you saw the house and porch where she stays when her owner is at work, and they were not damaged, the dog probably does not have separation anxiety. The dogs I've known who had SA absolutely destroyed the area where they were kept (and injured themselves) trying to get out. Curtains, blinds and curtain rods pulled off the walls and shredded, furniture destroyed, doors and walls scratched or chewed through, etc. ETA: I don't see anything that you've described that would concern me. She sounds like a typical adolescent dog who needs some training to learn some basic manners.

Family sharing is awesome! So much easier to use than the older Home Sharing.

I tried leaving out a bowl of candy when we were out two times a couple of years apart. Both times not only was all the candy taken in extremely short order but the bowls were taken as well (a Halloween-themed bowl and a black witch's cauldron). So I don't do that anymore.