So if I'm reading this right, is the whole concept of "anti-bacterial" really wrong in practice? It seems like the basic gist of all this is that we've basically evolved to handle most of the bacteria that the world throws our way and that trying to eliminate them just makes them stronger and forces changes in them…

Ah, but now you're parsing words. I never said that the persecution must be motivated by religious hatred. All I said was that the persecution was done by a secular group to a religious group. The motive was never the issue (don't you hate it when the words come back to bite you?)

I'm not "holding back information." The information is readily available to anybody who can search for it.

I'm not sure why people go through the bother of buying special "Valentine's Day" chocolates. I buy my husband a couple bars of that Endangered Species chocolate. It comes in a lot of the same flavors as the more expensive stuff. I even put a bow on it. No, there's no heart-shaped box, but I think he's okay with that.

I am a troll because I've impugned your excellent research skills? I pointed out the human rights orgs that cover the situation. If you were to hop over to their websites, you'd easily be able to locate the situation to which I'm referring. I'll even give you a nice hint to start you off: start in Asia, buddy.

Actually, real doctors have analyzed the acupuncture data and the conclusion is thus: it doesn't work. Any effects attributable to it are almost certainly placebos. The mechanism by which it works can't even be scientifically substantiated (the qi energy it proposes to manipulate).

1: I wish I worked for Google. They cover yoga.

Allow me to depart from being level-headed to use some caps:

Why the heck are you bringing up palm reading? Now you're just making yourself like quite stupid.

Yes. And you do know that plenty of insurance companies pay out for services of individuals who are not medical professionals in any appreciable sense, right? My insurance will cover a certain amount of person training, for example, provided the trainer is ACE certified. Now they might know a little about health and…

Because I doubt that the event I'm thinking of can be considered "armed." Especially since the group being persecuted is fairly pacifist.

This story still doesn't make her sound too great.

But they're expressly not medical professionals, so why would that even be the applicable standard? The article above even notes that.

Some of them go through privately-owned certifying agencies. The burden is on the person hiring them to see what that credential actually entails. Some of them are better than others.

I was told I needed a doula. But I asked around a lot, and I decided against it for one single reason - because so many friends and associates talked about how doulas can make you feel bad if you do something or want something they don't approve of.

How was I a dick?

There's some medical research that suggests that women who have doulas at their births have less interventions, use fewer drugs and have fewer C-sections. However, I'm not sure if its ever been demonstrated that doulas are the cause of those outcomes. Women who hire doulas are often already committed to the idea of…

A doula is basically a professional birth assistant. They're generally trained to some degree in the things that a laboring woman needs or might want. The biggest thing about them is that if you have one, they will remain with you throughout the entirety of the labor (usually). A nurse or doctor cannot do that.

Hold up, wait a second...

One of my friends is a Pagan who wears a headscarf (yes, some Pagan women do cover their heads for religious reasons - I didn't know for a long time about it). Now, she is about as white as white gets, and she has remarked about the comments and looks she sometimes gets. Of course, most people presume she is a Muslim.…