kagoscuba

The old "let's compare Iraq to WWII" argument again. Well, let's compare at the most basic level. Japan, Germany, and Italy declared war against us. Iraq did not. If Iraq had declared war against us, I'm sure it would not have been too hard to gather up enough support to use military force. However, the Bush administration does have one thing in common with World War II...they seem to think Nazi and Japanese torture methods are ok: During World War II, Japanese troops, especially the Kempeitai, as well the Gestapo, the German secret police, used waterboarding as a method of torture. The German technique was called the German equivalent of "u-boat". During the Double Tenth Incident, waterboarding consisted of binding or holding down the victim on his back, placing a cloth over his mouth and nose, and pouring Water onto the cloth. In this version, interrogation continued during the torture, with the interrogators beating the victim if he did not reply and the victim swallowing water if he opened his mouth to answer or breathe; when the victim could ingest no more water, the interrogators would beat or jump on his distended stomach. The practice garnered renewed attention and notoriety in September 2006 when further reports charged that the Bush administration had authorized the use of waterboarding on extrajudicial prisoners of the United States, often referred to as "detainees" in the U.S. war on terror. Personally, I dig facts more than a diatribe on how things "used to be" and using such quaint terms as Sodom and Gomorrah..

So, yesterday was the first time I've touched real weights (anything over 20 pounds) in about 6 months. I was banded 9/27, and yesterday was my green-light day from my doctor. Wow...what a difference. I was struggling to bench-press 135 pounds for a set of 12. Between the layoff and losing a ton of weight, my strength definitely got sapped. I'm not upset though. This will just give me another reason to push harder. The workout was about 45 minutes involving mostly chest and arms, and it felt great the entire time. Today is for legs and back, and in a couple of weeks I see a good routine being settled into. Considering I've been doing cardio for almost three weeks, the legs should not be as tough as the upper body for the first day of weightlifting. I LOVE IT!! :biggrin1:

Even if the Dems did want the US to be like old Mother Russia, the Republican leadership has in reality taken us closer to that model. Electronic eavesdropping on citizens without warrants. Secret investigations without recourse. Suspension of Habeas Corpus. The use of water-boarding and not calling it torture. Spending money like it grows on trees. What happened to the Republican party I grew up with, which cared about smaller government and fiscal responsibility? When people start using loose terms like dems and neo-cons or liberals and conservatives, they are taking a narrow view without the benefit of objective thought. The right answer is typically somewhere in the middle.

As them if it is cheating that they take a car to work, instead of walking. All it takes is a little willpower to get their feet moving, after all.

Hi all, I'm very happy with my weight loss so far, but in completing my online food journal I've noticed I'm averaging about 6 grams of Fiber a day, whereas the amount I am allowed is 29 grams. Is anyone else having trouble getting enough fiber into their diet? On the other hand, I did set a personal best on Protein today...134 grams! :boink:

You are probably correct that 80% of the population agreed it was a good thing to do, based upon flat-out lies by the current administration. It got so bad that one of my commanders from the first Gulf War, who I truly admire, Colin Powell, left in barely disguised disgust with what was happening. He just couldn’t lie anymore. Withdrawing from a completed conflict (war has been over for years) is not cutting and running. It’s called not occupying a country who didn’t want you there anyway. The examples of Japan, Korea, and Germany were used…I would hazard a guess less than 500 US soldiers combined were killed by those populaces after the cessation of military operations. Why? Culture perhaps, and also those places were bombed into complacency. The media today groans about 20 civilians killed by a stray bomb. We killed over 100,000 German civilians in a week by firebombing Dresden, and no one shed a tear. Why? Because they were the enemy, and we fought them like they were one. That’s what I meant earlier by cracking open a book and reading about real war. Iraq is not a war; it’s a barely contained riot. If it was a war, then we should fight it like one and not with kid-gloves on. That’s why war should be such a grave decision. The administration of today thinks they can launch a couple of surgical strikes and walk in like heroes. Not only that, they think they can fool their own people by saying things like, “torture is ok, as an official US Government policy.” WTF?! Being an ex-soldier, I understand there are isolated instances where this is needed but as official policy to make it commonplace? Go read Bravo 2-0 about a British SAS soldier tortured by the Iraqis during Gulf War I and see if you want us to follow their lead. Like he said at the end of his book “I’d slot (kill) them all, if I had the chance.” I personally don’t want a generation of people being treated poorly to give birth to a new generation who’s sole mission is to avenge them. Oh, and you can bet oil was the reason, two-fold. Iraq had it and more importantly the Saudis had it and were threatened by a militarily powerful Iraq. The Bush’s just happened to be bed-buddies with the royal family of Saudi Arabia, so here we are today. Just so you don’t think I am too fluffy about the previous administration, go read about the shop of horrors Bill Clinton walked the US into in Somalia. I was on active duty then, saw what was happening and couldn’t have given two $hits about those people. After reading “Me Against My Brother,” which is about that conflict and others I found out I was right. Those people are barely human. Me against my brother is from an old Somali saying which goes: “Me against my brother, my brother and me against our family, our family against our clan, our clan against the world.” That is the hierarchy of violence as it is accepted by the Somali culture. It’s been ingrained for thousands of years, and we walked straight into it as clueless as could be. Thanks Bill.

I love my brothers in arms, and wish them godspeed home. We invaded a sovreign country without a clear reason to do so. I said it the day it happened, and I'll say it until the day I expire from this earth. The current administration has destroyed our international reputation for no good reason. We should have stuck to Afghanistan, and if we wanted to expand it: Syria (was building a nuclear plant from 2001 until 2006, when the Israelis blew the $hit out of it, because we wouldn't), North Korea (still technically at war with them, so still kind of confused why we allowed them to build nuclear technology), and our good buddies in Iran (444 days, and still nothing in reparations, and they are killing Americans in Iraq). Now, Saddam was a bad guy, but that's nothing a single shot from a Barrett .50 couldn't have helped. If we can break all of the protocols we have for the last few years, we could have easily broken the one concerning assassinating a foreign leader. I also hate it when the administration and the media refer to Iraq and use the word "war." It isn't a war over there. Someone needs to crack open a history book and find out what real war consists of.

People tend to vote more on their impulses or party lines than anything else. 80% of American voters vote their affiliated party line, no matter the candidate. That is a fact, supported by years of research. Bill Clinton wasn't perfect, but he was a good president. His wife is a walking nightmare. Give her a few years, and we'll all be comrades.

Two ways of dealing with it for me... 1. Because I am passive aggressive, I would have just ignored this obnoxious bit@h for the rest of the day. 2. If I'd had a little alcohol and my inhibitions were loosened, I would have probably said something along the lines of "I don't know; how did you let yourself get so rude?" I had my best friend's mom say the same thing to me, almost word for word, as what this lady said to you. I feel for you, because it's a horrible feeling. Just think about it this way: that's one less person you need to worry about for anything ever again. Forget about her; you are doing what you need to do.

Anytime someone tries to bring the abortion issue down to a Biblical argument, it immediately loses its value, Why? Well, for example in Leviticus the Bible says not to eat catfish, as that is a sin...well just about every Southern church would be having at least one day of sin per summer. Masturbation is also forbidden...I think just for men though (seed cannot touch the ground). I wonder how many men screaming for an end to abortion have a stack of Playboys at home they get their rocks off to? Oh, and do I really have to go into how the Bible was written hundreds of years after Jesus died, vetted at the council of Nicene (that's where the Apostle's Creed comes from by the way), had a few chapters thrown out of it, translated, then given out? Nice book...lots of righteous stuff in it, but the infallible word of God? Please. The modern translation doesn't even get one of the Ten Commandments right...Thou Shalt Not Kill is actually Thou Shalt Not Murder in the original Hebrew. There is not too subtle difference in those two meanings. To me a life is a life when it can be sustained by itself or medical personnel. I think the earliest I've heard of is 26 weeks. However, I would not be opposed to abortion being limited to the first 8 weeks. Definitely a tough moral decision, but not one to be debated religiously.

Forgetting to put your hand over your heart is lot less unsettling than forgetting: The Geneva Convention, Constitutional Separation of Executive Branches, the general consensus of our forefathers about the separation of church and state (this is actually not in The Constitution), the US is not historically in the business of starting wars, that zero tolerence in school matters equals zero intelligence (NCLB), how to be fiscally responsible equitably, and leadership by fear-mongering is akin to fascism.

Nope you sure can't. That's $9k less than I paid.

Oh, and just because I have a bit of a nerdy streak, so far the average weight loss is 27 pounds, the median is 23, and the standard deviation is 9.2.

I was banded 9/27 and have lost 37 pounds so far: Stacy 73… 40 TulipStar…22 Mdicurn…20 time4me…27.8 Magooz07…11 Caresarn…16 Klpdbl…31 Lapband4me...32 Sirusman…23 Allisarin…23 Tishamarie…49 EL1…23 Juliacleone…14 Kimmie…43 dsmit13…23 ScareDcat…22 Lapitup…22.5 mandi78…23 andrea71…28 Thinmom…23 Kellymovingon...35 flipper64...30 kagoscuba...37

I work out daily (except Sunday) at lunch for cardio and M-Thursday I do weights after work. The lunch cardio is awesome for getting me ready for the afternoon doldrums.

He could also be holding in his laughter of making a mockery of the United States Constitution, UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice), and the original goals of the Republican Party (less government and less spending).

Perhaps Bush isn't smart enough to know where his heart is?

LOL...look online and you can find pictures of your beloved comrade, I mean President Bush not saluting the flag durnig pledges as well. Being a patriot has nothing to do with making a pledge; it has to do with taking approriate actions

midline, approximately 2.5 inches below my xyphoid process.

this actually happened yesteday. I told him how much I have lost, and I also told him the band wasn't "working" yet, as I have been filled, but I have not been eating solid food. However, the process of having the band and knowing what would happen if I did pig out accounted for a lot of the weight loss. He says something along the lines of, "So you are saying you have just dieted and exercised, and you paid for this? (I'm a self-pay) You are such a dumb-a$$: see, you could have done this on your own." I seriously wanted to stomp a mud-hole in his a$$ after that little gem of a comment. Instead, I got down to his level, and said "If it is so easy, then why do you look like a pregnant marsupial with that stomach pouch you've got going on?" Ahhh, we men are so not nice sometimes.

Thank you everyone for your support!!

I feel ya'! My best friend and best man insulted me today. After I told him I had lost 37 pounds in a month, he said, and I quote, "You told me the band wasn't really working for you yet (true), so you've lost all of this weight through diet and exercise, and you paid for this surgery? You are such a dumba$$." If he wasn't in a different state, I might have had to go throw down with him. It'd be time for an a$$-kicking and bubble-gum chewing contest, and I'm all out of bubble-gum. What an a-hole thing to say.

I had a fill on 10/15, but it hasn't "kicked-in" yet, as I am still on mushy food. My doc said not to expect any restriction until I start eating "real" food (this weekend). The 37 pounds is all post-op. I weighed 265, when they weighed me at discharge. That's pretty consistent with my weight for the last year or so. My wife, who sees me every day, has noticed quite a difference already. I can't wait to see the reaction of some people I haven't seen in awhile.

Today is my one month anniversary of being banded, and I have lost 37 pounds so far. Although I will admit my results are vastly different than others I have seen (partly because I've heard the Basal Metabolic Rate of being male is higher), I'm hoping others will have similar results as well. It CAN be done!! Here is what I've done in a nutshell: 1. Followed 95% of the diet requirements (I ignored not drinking caffeinated coffee...need my go-go juice) 2. Pack all three meals every morning before I go to work, and eat only what I packed...nothing else. 3. Do 30 minutes of cardio 6 days a week, and 4 days a week do strength training (I just started the strength training this week) 4. Because I don't mind it, I stay pretty much on a full liquid diet during the week, with the exceptions being 1 hard-boiled egg and 1 hard-boiled egg white in the morning and tuna at night. On the weekends I expand my menu a little. :whoo:

I'm not sure what you mean by tricks and gimmicks. Today is my one month anniversary of being banded, and I have lost 37 pounds so far. What I've done so far is not tricky at all, although I will admit my results are vastly different than others I have seen (partly because I've heard the Basal Metabolic Rate of being male is higher). Here is what I've done in a nutshell: 1. Followed 95% of the diet requirements (I ignored not drinking caffeinated coffee...need my go-go juice) 2. Pack all three meals every morning before I go to work, and eat only what I packed...nothing else. 3. Do 30 minutes of cardio 6 days a week, and 4 days a week do strength training (I just started the strength training this week) 4. Because I don't mind it, I stay pretty much on a full liquid diet during the week, with the exceptions being 1 hard-boiled egg and 1 hard-boiled egg white in the morning and tuna at night. On the weekends I expand my menu a little.