and it's also pretty awkward for the mom, who is totally getting reamed by her daughter in a very public way, albeit anonymously.

I agree. I at least know that I would be profoundly saddened to hear that my daughter kept all of the most important events in her life from me, and would continue to do so.

Shit's gonna hit the fan when she finds that one thing about Islam that doesn't make sense to her.

I admire her for exploring, but it seems more like she knew exactly what her beliefs were and was trying to find a religion that suited them perfectly—100%. If that's true, what religion she chooses would only make a difference in what kind of clothes she wears and the address of her place of worship, and which name…

Honest question: Is a phrase still bad once its origins have become that obscure? When no one is even aware of its etymological connection to a racial slur?

I can't wait to hear about her running that marathon!

But how do you lift a weight by squeezing? Does she have additional kegels that I lack??

The future is now!

I do have a vagina, and I have no idea.

Totally! You've got to own your embarrassment, or other people will! Chuckling at your own occasional ugliness is the best way to disarm it.

I also started flossing every day at some point, and now feel like I can't go to bed without doing it! Regarding the heart disease thing, you might be right. Most google results seem to say so. Then again, there's this: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2…. So now, of course, I'm not really sure how to tell what's…

Yes! Jezebel commenters aren't exactly a representative sample, but it's still a relief that only one person in 200-something posts has actually defended the 'vaccines cause autism' idea!

Thanks for this. Sometimes health professionals spread bad info too. Obviously, that's no reason to stop believing them altogether, but commenters have been pointing to parents' ignorance a lot in this discussion, even though sometimes it's hard to tell who's a reliable source of info.

[since I can't edit for some reason]: this explanation avoids putting the blame on the ignorance of parents, which isn't fair, because parents just want their children to be safe (and generally have good will towards other people children too!). Sometimes it's genuinely difficult for people to discerne 'good science'…

It's all about what hazards parents see. As soon as parents start hearing about children contracting life-threatening contagious diseases in their neck of the woods, they'll start going for the vaccines again.

This. For Americans today, autism seems like a real concern, while the measles and polio just don't seem like they'd ever happen (thanks to vaccines!).

I think that's the problem with the assignment—it didn't involve a refutation/debate part! It seems like the teacher just wanted students to reproduce Nazi ideology in a persuasive writing exercise. (Crafting an argument for something you don't support is actually a great persuasive writing exercise, but there's no…

I think there's a real irony to this lesson that makes it not okay: The point was to demonstrate just how powerfully persuasive persuasive writing can be, but then the teacher is asking the students to reproduce that same process that supposedly made Goebbel's propaganda so dangerous.

Populations skyrocketed after the appearance of settled, agricultural societies as well, they just kinda plateaued after that and didn't jump again until modern times. Despite the diseases caused by domesticating animals, agriculture could support much larger populations than pre-neolithic hunting and gathering.

I detect a case of ringworm on that big butt on the right.