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  • illinifan20
  • Member Since Apr 3rd, 2008

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Recent Comments:

To Tan or Not to Tan? New Study Says Not ... What About You? {Lemondrop}

Oct 2nd 2008 4:43PM Having had a bout with skin cancer this summer (at age 20, no less), I do tend to judge people who are fans of the "fake-and-bake" method, or tanning in general. Maybe it's because I'm bitter - I've hardly ever laid outside to tan, and not once have I ever set foot in a tanning salon and still managed to get melanoma - but then again, maybe it's because I feel like I know better.

I'm definitely in the "not" category. Though I'm borderline-offensively pale, I'm proud of it, and would never risk skin cancer again to try and blend in with the orange crowd.

'Why I Let My Kids Drink' {News Bloggers}

May 3rd 2008 2:56PM I don't find this woman to be "off her rocker" at all. There's nothing wrong with learning moderation from a young age; similar to how parents tell their children not to eat too many sweets, the same can be said for alcohol as well. Besides, it's not like this woman is letting her five year old get drunk - there is a large difference between a taste of wine and a full glass (or a full bottle, for that matter).

This practice is extremely common in Europe, as many families let their children have a glass of wine with dinner starting at about 8. Drinking is much less taboo for young people there, as it is learned from an early age how to moderate, and the "coolness" factor is dropped significantly due to its early exposure. Interestingly enough, Europe also has a far lower rate of alcoholism and binge drinking.

Besides...a sip of wine is not a gateway to hard drugs. Just putting that out there.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police urges elderly drivers to give up their licenses {Autoblog}

Apr 3rd 2008 6:39PM I think this is, to some degree, a good idea. Japan is giving incentive to the elderly to relinquish their licenses as opposed to taxing those who continue to drive, and I find this to be a good approach. I understand the fear of losing freedom; one of my grandmothers drives, and the other does not, and has to be driven everywhere by her daughers. However, I have a few things to say about younger versus older drivers:

I'm 20, and I've never been in an accident. I've never once gotten pulled over, and consider myself a pretty safe driver. Most accidents that I've almost been in have occurred in either a residential area, or on an expressway...and surprise, most of them have nearly been caused by an elderly driver. However, that isn't to say that a few of them weren't almost caused by my high school classmates (most of which were terrible drivers), too.

For the most part, as far as the residential ones go, it was caused by an elderly person blowing a stop sign, coming to a complete stop in the middle of a busy street to park, or backing out of a spot without looking.

The highway, however, is an entirely different issue: if you don't feel comfortable driving fast enough to keep up with traffic, then DO NOT DRIVE ON HIGHWAYS. Driving fast on them is reckless, this is very true, and is usually done by younger people, but driving slow on them is equally as dangerous. There's a minimum speed limit for a reason, and older people tend to drive far too slowly for the rest of traffic, which creates an unsafe situation for all drivers.

There's my thoughts...