That snake is putting up with that kid lying all over him, resting his whole weight on it while it tries to slither around, and roughly hadling its head for the food pay off. One of these days, they'll forget to feed it, then we'll see what happens.
@Manticore, it wasn't because she didn't like the ring. He got her the one she wanted but hadn't gotten around to proposing before she told him she was cheating on him and dumped him.
"We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Sahara. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively outnumbers the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here. We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred?" - Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow (1998)
A nice sentiment indeed, although Einstein wasn't religious. He was a deist, often using the word god to describe the workings of the universe. He didn't believe in a personal god.
One does not necessarily need religion to achieve what Einstein was describing. Agnostic astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson explains a thought which he says for him, produces no greater spiritual experience:
"Recognise that the very molecules that make up your body - the atoms that construct the molecules, are tracable to the crucibles that were once in the centres of high mass stars, that exploded their chemically enriched guts into the galaxy, enriching pristine gas clouds with the chenistry of life. So that we're all connected, to the each other - biologically, to the Earth - chemically, and to the universe - atomically. That's kind of cool. That makes me smile, and I actually feel quite large at the end of that. It's not that we are better than the universe, we are a part of the universe. We are in the universe, and the universe is in us."
Also, if a plane is moving towards or away from you, it can be difficult to judge the speed and may look as though it is moving far slower than it really is, or hovering.
The available literature suggests that assuming immunity to chicken pox from the vaccine is present, it should also prevent shingles. It also suggests that the vaccine cannot cause shingles later in life like the live virus can. But then again I'm not a doctor. As I'm sure you know, if in doubt, ask your doctor :)
Intentionally infecting your child with chicken pox may have been acceptable prior to the introduction of the vaccine. My mother arranged a "play date" with another little girl who had chicken pox, causing me to catch it when I was young, but things have changed. Chicken pox is highly infectious and can be life threatening particularly to adults, and very young children and immuno-comprimised individuals who cannot be vaccinated. Scheduled vaccines are by far the best means of achieving herd immunity to protect the population, particularly those who cannot be vaccinated.
An added benefit of the small pox vaccine is that it does not allow for the potential to develop shingles later in life, while catching chicken pox does. While booster shots are necessary, individuals who contracted chicken pox are also able to lose their immunity and often will also require booster shots. The vaccine is still extremely effective, whith the number of individuals contracting the disease plummeting since the vaccine's introduction.
The anti-vaccination movement is largely fuelled by misinformation (lies about effectiveness and the amount of time that passes before a booster is required), fear-mongering (lies and exaggerated risks especially regarding particular ingredients), and strawmen. No medical interventjon is 100% safe, but in this case, when you perform a risk analysis, the benefits of immunising the population against chicken pox far outweigh the risks, with serious negative reactions to the vaccine being extremely rare.
Excellent idea, and I hope they introduce this in Australia. Those people who don't want to donate for religious reasons are free to opt out, and if they never get around to it, their family can opt out for them.
One does not necessarily need religion to achieve what Einstein was describing. Agnostic astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson explains a thought which he says for him, produces no greater spiritual experience:
"Recognise that the very molecules that make up your body - the atoms that construct the molecules, are tracable to the crucibles that were once in the centres of high mass stars, that exploded their chemically enriched guts into the galaxy, enriching pristine gas clouds with the chenistry of life. So that we're all connected, to the each other - biologically, to the Earth - chemically, and to the universe - atomically. That's kind of cool. That makes me smile, and I actually feel quite large at the end of that. It's not that we are better than the universe, we are a part of the universe. We are in the universe, and the universe is in us."
An added benefit of the small pox vaccine is that it does not allow for the potential to develop shingles later in life, while catching chicken pox does. While booster shots are necessary, individuals who contracted chicken pox are also able to lose their immunity and often will also require booster shots. The vaccine is still extremely effective, whith the number of individuals contracting the disease plummeting since the vaccine's introduction.
The anti-vaccination movement is largely fuelled by misinformation (lies about effectiveness and the amount of time that passes before a booster is required), fear-mongering (lies and exaggerated risks especially regarding particular ingredients), and strawmen. No medical interventjon is 100% safe, but in this case, when you perform a risk analysis, the benefits of immunising the population against chicken pox far outweigh the risks, with serious negative reactions to the vaccine being extremely rare.