what disturbs you?

[JAVO]

Seriously, though...why? Dear God, why?

Hunger? laugh Sensationalist fame? Money?

I ate an earthworm once just to verify that I could actually do it.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

[YOUTUBE="QJ882QYzr-M"]The Dutch[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Orangey]

Hunger? laugh Sensationalist fame? Money?

I ate an earthworm once just to verify that I could actually do it.

I ate a raw minnow once on a bet.

Earthworms aren't as bad...it's just that white, milky texture of the grub worm that makes me sick. And it's nasty little brown head...eww.

 

[rav3n]

Speaking of worms, I've had some crawl out of tropical fruit seeds after cutting the fruit open.

*vomits*

 

[JocktheMotie]

I don't see the big deal. I used to eat worms as bets in middle school.

 

[JAVO]

I ate a raw minnow once on a bet.

Earthworms aren't as bad...it's just that white, milky texture of the grub worm that makes me sick. And it's nasty little brown head...eww.

See! You're a budding Bear Grylls yourself!

True, the appearance and texture of the grub are really nasty!

Speaking of worms, I've had some crawl out of tropical fruit seeds after cutting the fruit open.

*vomits*

Surprise! Extra protein!

 

[mmhmm]

I don't see the big deal. I used to eat worms as bets in middle school.

my favourite book in fifth grade!

 

[Qlip]

I visited an aunt in Utah who had a cherry tree, and they were ripe. I spent like 15 minutes popping, eh, I mean eating cherries. I bit one in half and examined the inside and there was a little tiny worm in it. I looked at a second one and there was a little worm in it to. I probably ate 50 worms.

 

[rav3n]

Worms are fine outside. I can even hold earth worms and sea worms. Just not in my food!

 

[Ginkgo]

Mmmm, scorpion pops

 

[Orangey]

Speaking of worms, I've had some crawl out of tropical fruit seeds after cutting the fruit open.

*vomits*

 

[rav3n]

It made me scream when their little white heads came wriggling out.

*shudders*

 

[Saslou]

Dealers who choose to sell heroin

F'd up Japanese movies

One human being purposely hurting another

Spiders that jump

The idea that heaven doesn't exist

The idea of never finding the balance i require in my life

That'll do.

 

[copperfish17]

1.) And my response to that kind of "answer" is contained in post #67.

Okay. Here I guess we'll agree to disagree, again.

2.) I'm not talking about consumer commodities: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_market_economy.

Ahh... so you were talking about this. I knew about this (as a customer of these government-owned/controlled industries, like many others) but never thought of it as an instance of "too much control". Hmm... there's certainly much more control going on here than in America. It just never occurred to me that it's a "bad" thing though.

3.) All of which were most likely the 'registered', and thereby monitored and controlled, churches. What Christians in China have is not religious freedom, but rather broad official toleration that can be rescinded at any time, and periodically is for 'house churches' (i.e. at least half of Chinese Christians). Currently, the government simply doesn't have to be heavy-handed in order to achieve their aims.

Btw, how many open and public practioners of Falun Gong have you encountered? That's what happens in China when official toleration is rescinded.

I don't think official toleration for Christians will be rescinded, with this in mind (and the issue with trading partners):

No one knows for sure how many Christians there are in China, which is still officially an atheist state. But most believe the real numbers far exceed the official estimate. Look at this:

Some recent surveys have calculated there could be as many as 100 million Chinese Protestants. That would mean that China has more Christians than Communist Party members, which now number 75 million.

Can you imagine? This might not technically qualify as a miracle, but it’s miraculous all the same. And Chinese evangelists are growing in strength and boldness:

[Government leaders'] powers to govern religion do, however, seem to be waning. That seems clear in a rural village in eastern China, where young people are openly trying to gain converts in defiance of the laws prohibiting proselytizing in public places. … China’s youth once trundled across the countryside spreading communism. Now, they’re spreading God’s word.


Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/roddreher/2010/07/china-is-turning-christian.html#ixzz1PUQvHbsD

I've never met any Falun gong practitioners. The year Falun gongs were banned was the year I came to China with my family for the first time.

4.) Apparently...you seem to be satisfied with very little in terms of individual liberty and political participation.

Well, if you're addressing me specifically, I'm free to do whatever I would ever want to do here (which doesn't include any "illegal" activities). That's enough liberty for me... I never really cared about political participation, and I won't be too upset if you judge me for that. I know a good deal about the bad effects of political indifference, but honestly I couldn't care less.

 

[miss fortune]

when I can't read someone's face when I'm speaking to them (i.e. clowns, face masks, face paint, talking to people when I can't look at them...)

physical contact with strangers... something about skin to skin contact is so POWERFUL to me that I really don't tend to touch people (handshakes included!) if I can avoid it

torture scenes make me queasy because I imagine what it would feel like myself

watching someone else fail despite my best efforts... that feeling of helplessness *shudders*

 

[lowtech redneck]

Well, if you're addressing me specifically, I'm free to do whatever I would ever want to do here (which doesn't include any "illegal" activities). That's enough liberty for me... I never really cared about political participation, and I won't be too upset if you judge me for that. I know a good deal about the bad effects of political indifference, but honestly I couldn't care less.

Fair enough...as for me, I know I couldn't escape either a.) political persecution or b.) soul-crushing repression if I lived in China, and could never live tolerably under the conditions in place ('illegal activities' would constitute just about any activity that gives my existence meaning-and I'm sure as hell-metaphorically speaking-not talking about religion). That qualifies as 'oppression' to me. It appears we'll never move beyond agreeing to disagree, but I will never apologize for demanding more than an existence of serfdom (whatever the material benifits involved).

 

[Malice]

- hurting/potentially hurting someone I care about
- child abuse/animal abuse
- disease/mutilation/human suffering
- death and the idea of not existing/that I was/am utterly significant/that I won't be remembered
- going blind
- maggots (and their smell)

 

[FakePlasticAlice]

Your mom.

 

[ICUP]

Fair enough...as for me, I know I couldn't escape either a.) political persecution or b.) soul-crushing repression if I lived in China, and could never live tolerably under the conditions in place ('illegal activities' would constitute just about any activity that gives my existence meaning-and I'm sure as hell-metaphorically speaking-not talking about religion). That qualifies as 'oppression' to me. It appears we'll never move beyond agreeing to disagree, but I will never apologize for demanding more than an existence of serfdom (whatever the material benifits involved).

Ha.... welcome to humanity.

 

[funkadelik]

I can think of something more disturbing than grubs and worms.

[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23eimVLAQ2c"]Bot Flies[/YOUTUBE]