1546: God's Bananas

[Blitzgal]

If the banana is evidence of God, then Kirk Cameron must accept that coconuts are evidence that God does not exist and certainly did not specifically create everything in this world with human consumption in mind.

[Electric Squirrel]

Originally Posted by GossipTGirl

I think it's safe to say that most ethnic/non-North American people are close to their extended families or grew up around their extended families. I grew up around my mother's extended family and my maternal grandparents. No, we didn't all live in the same house but we lived in the same city and we would all get together during the weekends.

I am Canadian and whitey white as white can be. Granted I'm Canadian but when you say "western culture" that typicality refers to us in the great white north as well as our cocky neighbours to the south.

I grew up incredibly close to my extended family, perhaps a good thing in the eyes of those who think family is important because if I didn't like them I would follow Keith and not associate with them, as would be the case with any other living person. You say that ethnic families are more likely to be close with the extended family. Atleast I assume you mean "close" and not just "know" because that was part of the pole. When I look at ethnic families I don't see closeness, I see, like with Chemda's, that they know eachother but hide things and won't swear or talk about anything important with their families, which isn't close.

[scottperezfox]

I agree with Keith, Homeland is an amazing show. It's honestly some of the best writing and acting and general concept in quite a while. Go watch.

Regarding Lauren's play this weekend, it seems the NYC tickets are sold out. Say it ain't so?

[Dean from Australia]

I had a major crush on Julie McCullough who played Mike Seaver's girlfriend/wife in "Growing Pains".

Yeah, Kirk Cameron is a real fucken bright spark isn't he...

[Bermie Ninja]

I can't believe that people are STILL complaining about paying for the right to listen to over 1000 comedy podcasts plus all of the additional content. It's ridiculous! They obviously think that it's worth listening to, so how do they rationalize that it's not worth paying for?
I love the new What's My Name show, but I wish it was more than once per week

[Strawdog]

On the birth control issue, insurance companies definitely shouldn't be legally required to cover a woman's birth control. While I understand that there's a small percentage of woman who use the implant/pill/injection for health reasons, they're an insignificant minority who shouldn't influence something that would raise premiums across the board.
And let's not forget that birth control is covered by insurance, just not the kind provided by some employers. If birth control is such a big deal for these women then they should pick an insurers who cover it, not campaign for these other insurers to change to save them some hassle or money while causing the cost to rise for others.

[stevo8523]

Homeland is my favorite series right now. Just watched a movie called "The Guard". I thought it was pretty damn good.

[WittyReference]

Anything different to what you're used to can easily weird you out so its not that strange that people have reactions to little people that they don't see very often. I guess the trick is to recognise that it is your issue and not theirs and still treat them with respect. That's why I loved Morgan Spurlock's show 30 days. Walk a mile in their shoes so to speak and understand where the other side is coming from.

When I was doing courier driving I went to a business 3 times a day for a year where a little person worked. It was strange at first but we started talking and it turned out he was the funniest guy there and we had a lot of similiar tastes, so he was easy to talk to. One day I was walking down a long corridor and he came out of a side door at the other end. He saw me and instantly started dragging one foot behind him, scrunched up his face, made his hands into claws and groaned as he walked like a mutant accross the hall into the opposite door. It was the funniest thing I'd ever seen and gave me so much more respect for him that he was happy to poke fun at himself as well.

[funnygurl1979]

I know my family but we're not close, my immediate family is on the other side of Canada. My Mom's side is just her brother's family who are nice. My Dad's family are cold and aloof.
I always feel a pang of saddness when my friend's family dinners involve all the extended family and you can see that close bond. It's makes me love what I have with my family of 5 right now.

[Blitzgal]

Originally Posted by Strawdog

On the birth control issue, insurance companies definitely shouldn't be legally required to cover a woman's birth control. While I understand that there's a small percentage of woman who use the implant/pill/injection for health reasons, they're an insignificant minority who shouldn't influence something that would raise premiums across the board.

Birth control is far cheaper than pre-natal care and childbirth, which is also covered. Your insurance premiums would not rise if there are fewer unintended pregnancies -- they would rise with increased pregnancies.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/20...yer/?src=rechp

Measuring savings on publicly financed medical care for pregnant women and other means-tested benefits provided to children under age 5, Mr. Thomas found that a mass media campaign aimed at promoting safe sex could save taxpayers $431 million a year, while sex education and teenage pregnancy prevention programs could save $356 million. The biggest savings would come from increasing the amount of subsidized birth control available to poor women. At a cost of $235 million a year, such programs could save $1.32 billion annually.