I have rules for my house, also, and I expect my daughter to follow them. But if she has a serious concern about a rule I make, I allow her to question me in a respectful manner as to the reasoning behind it. And if I had a rule that truly troubled her, and that she believed was hurtful to not only herself but others, I would certainly hope she had the fortitude to continue to question me even if I tried to blow her off.

And then there's the little "star rating" system, where people can anonymously show their dislike of a thread. You know what it all reminds me of? That book by Max Lucado. Where all the little wooden people are running around giving each other stickers, and judging people by how many stickers they have. And I know the point of the book is that you shouldn't let the stickers affect how you feel about yourself. But still, it seems this board is set up with the purpose of encouraging the sticking of stickers.

But people whine about things all the time on these boards. (Whine as in complain... not trying to start another subway incident.) Why is whining about mean rep delete-worthy when whines about so many other things not? And it's not even the complaining/criticizing posts that get deleted. Even simple questioning posts do. And that's what is so sad to me. Negative rep is hurtful. And by deleting posts and allowing anonymous negative rep to continue, the admins are forcing people to have to sit silently. I know some people think you shouldn't care what "cowardly" neg reppers say, but we can't expect everyone to not care.

As a (up to this point) bystander in this conversation, it seems like you both are swimming around a few words. Nancy, you seem to be equating absolute truth with absolute morality or moral truth. Phred (I'm pretty sure) sees those as different things. So Nancy seems to keep thinking she is proving her point, but Phred doesn't see it that way because she is interchanging his words. I think you guys need to address this and come to an agreement on what those mean before you can come to any agreement on what they may actually be. Now carry on. :D

But the Looking Glass did have a sub docking area. I'm with you on the head spinning! :confused:

Yes, but remember how relieved she was that Jack/Kate/Sayid didn't show up to take the baby to Jin's grave? Of course, Hurley mentioned keep Michael safe when he was talking to Walt. He had to know Michael was on the ship that exploded. Was he protecting Walt? Does he not believe Michael is dead? Or does he not believe dead is dead? Or does he really believe he himself is dead?

But it is different because before, everyone knew what nasty comments were said, and it could be made clear that not everyone felt that way. Nowadays, if someone gets the nasty comment, no one is there to back them up because you can't talk about it or it gets deleted. So it is really a much more personal attack, with the potential to be far more hurtful.

Libby appeared as Michael was about to detonate the explosives on the freighter, which was what Ben had directed him to do. (But then the "Not Yet" flag popped up.) We haven't ever seen Ben and Christian in the same place. The first time Locke went to the cabin, Christian wasn't there (or wasn't visible) but Jacob was. So that certainly adds to Christian's mysteriousness. But who is he? I don't know. Does Jacob represent Good (with a capital G) and Christian represent Bad? Back to the black/white symbology of the first season? And dead (?) Claire is possibly just as deceived as John is by him. Claire wants to believe him because he's her dad. John wants to because he's treating John as if he's special. But could a dead Claire be deceived? Is deception possible beyond life?

It's likewise confusing that, as someone else pointed out on another thread, it's even perfectly fine to criticize/debate the board owner's curriculum without being deleted. Yet we can't question the rep system without being deleted. Again I say, there are too many double standards involved in this whole rep system.

But we do know that there is some link between Oceanic and the Hanso Foundation, right? From a couple of seasons ago? And there is a link between Hanso and Widmore through the auction of the Black Rock journal. And how did anyone get their hands on that if the Black Rock crashed on the island?

Actually, didn't Jack say that to Desmond last night? I think it was just a nod to the unexpected prophetical reality of that original statement.

Right! And I questioned that in a previous thread wondering why Libby appeared to be pleading for Michael to NOT do what it seemed like Ben wanted him to do. Whether that was really an apparition of her or just in Michael's imagination. Maybe Christian does have control of Jacob, and that is why Jacob said "Help me" to John. But John can't see through Christian yet. Christian may want the island moved so that the O6 can't easily come back and help John help Jacob. That was John/Jeremy's story, right? That things went terribly wrong on the island after O6 left and it moved. Maybe John realized that Christian is a bad guy and he needs the O6's to help him defeat Christian. And the whole Aaron raised by another, not raised by another conflict is so confusing. If Claire is supposed to raise him, and Christian stopped her from doing that, then again Christian seems bad. If Kate is not supposed to raise him, then why is Claire telling her to basically keep him? Because she's "working" with Christian and he's bad? Aaron as Moses raised by a Pharaoh (Jack) but to eventually fulfill his legacy of freeing his people. Yet, Jack is also a Moses, who led his people, but due to his own shortcomings, never gets to enter the promised land. Christian being the deceiver, and not a Shepherd at all. Good stuff!

And Jack implied his father was upstairs in a different flash forward. Stress-induced dementia maybe? Are they seeing dead people like Hurley? Except Hurley accepts it more readily, being in a mental institution and all. Oh, and do we assume that the guy that Sayid killed in the car was one of Widmore's thugs? And what is Oceanic's role in all this? That Abbadon guy, does he work for Oceanic? Or Widmore? Or does Widmore have something to do with Oceanic? Obviously Oceanic knows the "story" is false, so what is their involvement beyond self-preservation?

Good point. Locke/Bentham had gone to see him, so that could have been his plan. But would that also mean Desmond, too? I can't see him ever going back, unless Penny went with him. (And that would work well with my theory about Desmond and Penny being Adam and Eve from the cave with time travel involved.)

Yeah, the transfer of personalities between the two has been interesting. Jack just doesn't have the same effect as Sawyer with the "Son of a b!tch", it just doesn't work for him. But Sawyer pulls off a great hero. Maybe there are two sources for the two different jobs. The source near the hatch allowed people to leave and return to the island. The source near the Orchid allows time travel. Nah. Probably not. And if I were right about the sub being a decoy, then what was the purpose of the Looking Glass? Who knows. Just thinking things through. If so, where did Charlotte get the accent? I really want to see more about Annie, but I just can't twist Charlotte into being her. Subject change: And what about the visions of dead people? What is that about? I used to think they were created by the island, but now it seems they have their own agenda. Locke aka Bentham wants the O6 to return to the island. But is he in step with Christian / Jacob at that point? Because Claire (who is also in with Christian) appeared in the dream of Kate's telling her NOT to bring Aaron back. And what is Christian's relationship to Jacob? I know he said he could speak for him, but what/who does that make Jacob? And what's with all the "J" names. John, Jack, Jacob, Jeremy. Coincidence?

The only undercurrent I detected was her shock when Ben revealed that he knew her name and info because he had someone on the freighter. I really don't think she is Annie, although the thought did cross my mind during the conversation with Miles. Do we know for sure than anyone has ever been born on the island before Aaron? Did the problem with women having babies on the island only happen after the "incident" referred to in the orientation tapes? Well, Ben did imply that the energy source of the island was a big hamster on a wheel, right? :D I think if Desmond hadn't turned the key, the entire island may have imploded, but he did turn it, so only the hatch imploded. I think another consequence of the em being released was that, for a moment, it made the island visible to the outside world. (Penny's guys in Antarctica or wherever they were.) Also, after the sky turned purple, Ben said that the sub wouldn't be able to find its way back. I think the sub was a decoy all along, and that it was NOT how people traveled to and from the island. I think the electromagnetism build up may have been required for opening the portal Ben used to transport people to and from the island.

It was with the woman he conned but then actually fell for. (The same woman Kate met who helped her see her mom again.) Then the woman visited Sawyer in prison and told him about his daughter.

And just like homeschooling has become much more "normal" over the last decade, I'm seeing early college as becoming much more the norm. I say this because I live in a not-so-big-or-prosperous town, and yet we have two high schools here that you graduate from with AA degrees. I went to an open house for one of them recently, and the quote by the community college liaison was a statistic about how much high schoolers forget by the time they get to college, and how they have to take remedial classes. So now they will get college credit for the classes the first time around. (I'm not convinced that will make a difference in their retention, but oh well.) The students take a full college load (at the college) their 11th and 12th grade years, and are also allowed one additional year, if needed, to complete their 60 credit hours. The local state university has already agreed to accept these students, and some will even be allowed to finish out their Bachelor's tuition-free. The advantage to this program over dual enrollment is that you aren't limited to the number of classes per semester. I left the open house wondering if by the time my daughter is 18, will it be almost expected that she already have 2 years worth of college? It also makes it seem like people are starting to realize that the last two years of most high schools are largely wasted time. Are AP classes going to become a thing of the past, replaced by actually taking the college class? But either way, early college is becoming more and more "normal" and it will be interesting to watch where it goes. But to answer the OP question, I graduated high school at 16 and went to a trade school that was largely attended by adults. I preferred the company of people older than myself, so it was pleasurable for me. I can't imagine the thought of having to complete two more years of high school at that age! But I also realize that I was far more independent than any of my friends were. And the same situation would not have worked for them. So it really is child-dependent. There is no single blanket answer. But I firmly believe that for some kids, it is absolutely the best choice.

But then that would mean Jack has been dead since the very first episode. I think this can go either way. I really want him to be alive, but if he were, I think John aka Jeremy would have used that tidbit to lure Sun back to the island. Although I guess Ben and Jack didn't mention him having talked to Sun, so maybe his "accident" occurred before he got the chance. It seemed like a rather arbitrary "rule" that whoever moves the island can never return. Didn't make much sense to me. And I don't think Ben would be willing to leave the island just to save it if he really believed he couldn't return. He sure seemed irritated with Jacob, though. And the sky turned purple and made that sound just like when Desmond turned the key. Or was the sound from the numbers not being entered? If Desmond hadn't turned the key, would the island have moved itself then? Was that the purpose of entering the numbers? To keep the island where it was? No matter how many answers they give us, there's always more questions! What a terrific group of writers!

I think that is why Jack was careful to name people who had definitely died on the island (as definitely as anyone dies on the island) as the other people who "survived" because he's pretty sure they will never be "found" and ruin his story. Had he named anyone else and they somehow showed up later on, then their story would be blown. I'm not sure that they really believe they are the only survivors, but they certainly want everyone back home to believe that they are. Oh I know. She has really redeemed herself this season. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to like/trust her, but yeah, I felt terrible seeing her sitting there with her rum and the smoke in the distance. And then Sawyer. Sigh. Just like Captain Jack and Elizabeth Swan on the island with their rum. Yeah, I wondered about that, too. I know some of them were using that name because they were certain they were being watched. But it is still very weird. Walt looked SO different! So we know that Ben has "infiltrated" Sayid and now Jack in the flash forwards. I'm guessing next season will be focused on the conflict among the six on going back, and then seeing what exactly went so wrong on the island after they left. Who is left on the island now? (That we care about) Sawyer Juliet Miles Charlotte Locke Rose Bernard Daniel?? The Others The dead people Is that it?

Oh! And what's the deal with Miles and Charlotte talking about her being "back" on the island, and about her finding where she was born?? Was I hearing that right? (Boy do I miss having cable with dvr and rewind abilities!!!)

The Latin-Centered Curriculum authored by Plaid Dad aka Andrew Campbell. :001_smile:

I think death is a very relative term on this show! :) Who knows who will show up again, or how, or why. Are they real or not? So many questions...

According to Lostpedia's timeline, he was born on Nov 1. And I can't help but be distracted while watching the show by the thought of "What they heck are they feeding that baby since Claire disappeared?!?!"

Eight survived the crash: Sayid, Jack, Kate, Sun, Hurley, Boone, Libby, and Charlie. The three died after the crash, and then Aaron was born. Wowswers what an episode! It is still all swirly in my brain... the following comments are very disjointed, but here are some of my thoughts. I was thinking that Jack and Sun's dad were the two she blamed, since Jack made the comment to Ben that Sun blames him. I'm not sure what she has up her sleeve in contacting Widmore, though. I was SOOOO happy to see Penny and Desmond reunite!!! As far as Sun getting pregnant on/off the island and Jin being dead, apparently not as much time has passed (or would it be more time has passed), since they think Kate would have been 5 months pregnant when she was caught by the agent, yet Claire was much farther along than that. And they are saying Aaron is, what, six weeks old, when he is really eight. Some kind of crazy time thing. And Christian on the boat!! What's up with that! Oh, and that was cool that Hurley was playing chess with Mr. Ekko. I miss him! So when will this season come out on DVD's??? I hope they don't wait until Christmas time again! I guess it will probably be a few weeks before the next season starts. :glare: Oh well. I need to get some sleep. If I can. :D