Greetings from a long-time lurker.

Just thought I'd stop by and say hello since I've started posting over the last month or so. I've been lurking here for about a year and decided to get a little more involved in the action.

I'm in my mid-30's, live in the northeastern US, and work in an R&D position for a chemical company. I realize that last bit of information probably places a large target on me as being the second coming of whichever entity you deem the most evil. That's actually one of the reasons I wanted to become more active and engaged - to help people understand that science isn't a bad thing in and of itself, only the misuse of science e.g. studying genetics is a good thing, using the information from that research to push a eugenics agenda is not.

My ATS-related interests are most of the topics in the Science (I know, I know... shocker!) and Mysterious Subjects forums. I freely admit I'm a skeptic, so I tend to take the position of, "Nice hypothesis... proof?" I also enjoy some of the Political discussions relating to Constitutional Law. I'm a card carrying member of both the ACLU and the NRA because I love all of my rights. After a long journey that started with passive Catholicism and my parents believing I was smart enough to make my own decisions regarding religion, I've recently come to grips with the fact that, deep down, I'm an atheist. That being said, I fully believe that everyone has the right to believe what they want and I will never belittle anyone's religious beliefs. So please don't belittle mine. Wink wink.

As far as non-ATS interests, I'm a bit of a foodie. I have the good fortune of living in a suburban area that's near a major city, so there's a ton of quality restaurants with just about any style of food I can desire that no one knows about. Music plays a big part in my life - I'm rarely not tapped into my iPod or have music going in the background. I love live music and try to see smaller independent shows whenever I can. I'm also a pretty avid reader, almost entirely fiction.

Other than that... I have a wife, a dog, a cat, and a baby on the way. Let the insanity begin!

Look forward to talking to you all on the boards!

Hi and welcome from another lurker. I just started my newbie thread today. I hope to see you around in those forums.

Well you've got your first flag from me.

Try not to chase them or even count them as important but it's part of the scene so I'm glad I broke you in.

Great to hear you being so up front about everything, I hope you live to regret it

Hope to see you on the boards!

-m0r

Welcome earthling, sounds like a pretty good life you got going. And yes, distancing yourself from Corexit would be wise lol

See you around Mars