NickolasJames8

Aww, thanks Kevin

Thank You ColeYy

I came home sick today My stepmom tried to keep me home from school to begin with but I didn't listen, and now I wish I had. Anyway, I keep thinking I'm gonna puke but when I try, nothing comes out but this nasty yellow crap that burns my throat. So what's the moral of all of this?? I think it's Stay Away From 7-11 Big Bites. I ate two last night because my dad and stepmom went somewhere and James and I had to fend for ourselves. He wound up going to 7-11 because he wanted nachos and I asked him to get me a big bite. Well, there's some deal when you buy two, so that's what he did and I was really really hungry, so I ate them both. But I haven't felt good since the middle of last night, and I think I might have gotten food poisoning or something. Yay me

You Scored an A You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes. The It's Its There Their They're Quiz http://www.blogthings.com/theitsitstheretheirtheyrequiz/

I admit that I picked the option that stated that I hate to be in the room with smokers, but I should clarify something: It's not the smokers themselves I hate, it's the cigarrette smoke that grosses me out (and makes me sneeze ). That said, it's not up to me to tell the owner of a store or a restauruant to ban smoking in their place of business. If people don't like it, they'll find abother place to eat/shop. Those who do like it will most likely go to that store or restauruant over the one that doesn't allow smoking. So to me, it's not about smoker's rights and non-smoker's rights. It's about the government staying out of our lives as much as possible.

Here's a little history lesson on the tobacco companies and how they hooked a whole genration on their product..it's really quite interesting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0up4_HF9jYY

Actually, I only mentioned a smoking ban by the government because Krista posted that she thinks a smoking ban is and should be the government's decision. I only used the other examples because once you give the government that kind of power over your life, they'll happily (and forcefully) take a little more and a little more until they have total control.

After the government bans smoking, what should they ban next? Over-eating? Gay sex? Pre-marital sex? Abortions? Will there be a ban on chewing tobacco? Heaven forbid that people should be expected to make choices about their bodies without the government's help. Once you give them that kind of power, they'll find a way to abuse it. Just look around at what we're living through right now.

Obesity is a public health issue too. Do should we restrict when people should eat? I'm eating a bag of Doritos right nw. If I only eat 11 chips, I'll take in 8 grams of fat. if I eat the whole bag, I'll take in 20 grams (next stop, my thighs). Should there be a law that says I have to stop at 11, because I was planning on eating the whole thing. I agree that smoking in public places should be restricted. But it should be done by the private business owners, not by the government. Even if 95% of the people want to ban smoking in public places, the private business owner should have the final say about her/his establishment. That's part of what makes it their business.

As the parent, that choice has to be up to you. If there's some kind of neglect, then the government would have to step in. But that example is unique. What about all households with children? Or all households in general? Would you support a smoking ban in those cases? The wife or husband is married to a smoker, and it would be hard to just leave them. Or what about kids? They don't have much of a choice. How far should the government reach?

I would say that the people who work there can choose freely to not be there. I understand that it's not convienient for them, but there are other places to work. I also don't think it's about the right of people to smoke...it's about the right of individual business owners to allow smoking in the business that they built and the building that they own (or rent). What if the government said no smoking in your house because others living with you are affected?

I can see your point about working conditions, but let's not get too far off topic. If you're a business owner, then you get to decide the working conditions ( to a degree) of your business. Still, I think that allowing smoking and asking someone to risk their lives by working with dynamite and matches are two different things. Look at it this way..... What if you owned a cafe and almost all of your regulars smoked? They came in and got coffee, read the paper and sucked a couple cancer sticks down in the process. Now the government comes along and says, No, you can't do that anymore because it's not fair to those who don't smoke. Who are they to say that you can't let your customers do what they normally do? I hate cigarrette smoke as much as the next person, but I can't think of one situation where it sould be restricted by the government.

I understand what you're saying, but freedom of choice should be universal. I mean, if we have the government telling us that we can't allow smoking in private buisinesses, what's next? Are they going to tell people how much they can eat? Or what vitamins to take? If you give a little bit a freedom away, it doesn't seem so bad. Then, you give a little more, then a little more. Before you know it, there are no more freedoms. I'd rather let people decide for themselves what they want to allow in their businesses than the government.

I'm not arguing that second hand smoke murders non-smokers. I'm just saying that if someone doesn't like it, they don't have to be there. As for employees, they can find another job if they don't like it. What if someone was working in a store that played rock music over the speakers and they didn't like it? It might not be a health risk, but what if it gave them impure thoughts? ( I know, you don't have to say it ) Should the government step in? Or should the person find another place to work? If it's a private business it's a private decision.

I'm not offended by anything in your post, but I definitely disagree on the banning smoking part. Places of business have private owners who should be the one and only authority on whether or not people smoke in their buildings. If there's a place that allows smoking and I don't like it, I can go elsewhere. As long as it's privately owned, the government has no business deciding who can and can't smoke there.

(waves at Kevin)

I don't know much about smoking tobacco pipes so I can't say much, but cigarrettes are a different subject. Cigarrette makers add so much crap to the tobacco that goes in their product, like formaldahyde and other chemicals that can't be good for people, then at the end of the thing is a filter that probably sends little fibers of cotton or whatever they're made of into people's lungs. Personally I voted that I don't like to be in the same room with cigarrette smoke because it makes me sneeze, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't think it was dumb to smoke, especially since we all know what it's going to lead to.

I think groups like this are good for every society because they work to keep religion and government seperate. It's just too bad that more Christians, like me , don't want the church to stay out of the government. It's totally disgusting to try and legislate morality and religious beliefs because when that happens, we take a huge step away from being the great Republic that we are and towards being a Theocracy.

Wow, what a last couple of weeks. (stops and catches breath) I guess I just wasn't as ready for school as I thought I was, and it was pretty hard to get caught up. Last Sunday I was still pouring over my hw at 11 in the morning. This Sunday I'm happy to report that I finished my hw yesterday at about 5:30 in the afternoon. That's the good news. Unfortunately, I have some really bad news too (in my opinion, at least). Taylor's talking about dropping out of school. I'm doing everything I can to try to talk him out of it, but he's not listening. He stayed home sick everyday last week so he could wake and bake and screw around. Now he says that he doesn't think he wants to go back because it's too hard. I just wish his mom and dad would put a boot in his ass and MAKE him go to school. I don't care how big he is. He drives a friggen Q45 and gets everything he wants. They can sell his car or something. I know he'd be pissed if he read this, but I don't care. He says stuff all the time about wanting to be a cook. If he drops out of school, he'll can be a cook alright: at McDonalds. So anyway, I've been telling all of our friends to be on his case and my dad and stepmom are going to get on his case too, but they said NOT to try to talk to his mom and dad because they know what's best for him. It just tears me up because he's my best friend and I don't want him to do something stupid that's gonna ruin his life. That's the drama Ok, so now I have some story updating to do. I'm still not sure about the anthology. I have plans to write a story, but I don't want to neglect the stuff I'm already working on, so I won't promise a story. What I will say, though, is that I definitely have an idea for a story, and if it doesn't go in the anthology, it'll still go up on my site. Also, in case you didn't see it in the sneak peak section of the forum, I'm working on a new chapter story called If By Chance. I sent chapter one off to Talonrider already, but I don't have beta readers for this one. Journey Back To The Yellow House is on hold indefinitely until I can make a better plan for how I want that story to turn out. In the meanwhile, I posted chapter 5 of What's The Difference Between Me and You, Book II. So yeah, not much going on right now but it's gonna pick up again. I just need to let things calm down around me for a couple more weeks.

Happy Birthday Old Goat