BethFromVA

I'm so sorry, it's just that you kept proving time and again with all of your posts towards me that you could only GET personal rather than deal in facts, so I thought that was the way you chose to converse. And I have not been wrong about that. You peacefully stick your head back in the sand so that all we see is your rear again. Eh, to each his own. So... NOTHING to say about data that proves the cost they are to us. I would toss you out on your ear right along with them if it was possible because you're worse than them. Facts and statistics = nonsense. Oh wait, look who I'm talkin' too. Of COURSE it does, darlin'! Bless your heart.

I dunno, maybe she didn't realize she was that way. Though they can cut and edit WHAT is said, they don't make the people say these things -- like Sinone's big baby temper tantrum. I don't care how that was edited, he still acted like a sphincter.

Unless you just want a new one, maybe try to run some CLR or other product that eats away at the mineral deposits first. Do that, then run water over and over again. If it still spits coffee, however, run the CLR again. That has saved many a coffeemaker. Usually when it's spitting like that or dripping very slowly, it's simply build-up.

I dunno, Petunia, I guess I'm not quite as optomistic as you are. Somebody who carried on a year-and-a-half long relationship -- well, there's nothing to salvage. At all. :smile2:

Excuse me, but I haven't jumped down your throat at all! Nor did anybody else, for that matter. Sounds to me like you're overly sensitive or hormonal.

Obama Wants to Control the Banks There's a reason he refuses to accept repayment of TARP money. I must be naive. I really thought the administration would welcome the return of bank bailout money. Some $340 million in TARP cash flowed back this week from four small banks in Louisiana, New York, Indiana and California. This isn't much when we routinely talk in trillions, but clearly that money has not been wasted or otherwise sunk down Wall Street's black hole. So why no cheering as the cash comes back? My answer: The government wants to control the banks, just as it now controls GM and Chrysler, and will surely control the health industry in the not-too-distant future. Keeping them TARP-stuffed is the key to control. And for this intensely political president, mere influence is not enough. The White House wants to tell 'em what to do. Control. Direct. Command. It is not for nothing that rage has been turned on those wicked financiers. The banks are at the core of the administration's thrust: By managing the money, government can steer the whole economy even more firmly down the left fork in the road. If the banks are forced to keep TARP cash -- which was often forced on them in the first place -- the Obama team can work its will on the financial system to unprecedented degree. That's what's happening right now. Here's a true story first reported by my Fox News colleague Andrew Napolitano (with the names and some details obscured to prevent retaliation). Under the Bush team a prominent and profitable bank, under threat of a damaging public audit, was forced to accept less than $1 billion of TARP money. The government insisted on buying a new class of preferred stock which gave it a tiny, minority position. The money flowed to the bank. Arguably, back then, the Bush administration was acting for purely economic reasons. It wanted to recapitalize the banks to halt a financial panic. Fast forward to today, and that same bank is begging to give the money back. The chairman offers to write a check, now, with interest. He's been sitting on the cash for months and has felt the dead hand of government threatening to run his business and dictate pay scales. He sees the writing on the wall and he wants out. But the Obama team says no, since unlike the smaller banks that gave their TARP money back, this bank is far more prominent. The bank has also been threatened with "adverse" consequences if its chairman persists. That's politics talking, not economics. Think about it: If Rick Wagoner can be fired and compact cars can be mandated, why can't a bank with a vault full of TARP money be told where to lend? And since politics drives this administration, why can't special loans and terms be offered to favored constituents, favored industries, or even favored regions? Our prosperity has never been based on the political allocation of credit -- until now. Which brings me to the Pay for Performance Act, just passed by the House. This is an outstanding example of class warfare. I'm an Englishman. We invented class warfare, and I know it when I see it. This legislation allows the administration to dictate pay for anyone working in any company that takes a dime of TARP money. This is a whip with which to thrash the unpopular bankers, a tool to advance the Obama administration's goal of controlling the financial system. After 35 years in America, I never thought I would see this. I still can't quite believe we will sit by as this crisis is used to hand control of our economy over to government. But here we are, on the brink. Clearly, I have been naive. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123879833094588163.html

But it's not a sitcom. You feel Sinone is a great guy, and Donna and I and a few others think he's a whiny, sniveling crybaby. We're all entitled to our opinions, no? :smile2:

I haven't during this 3+ weeks of plateau, but maybe I should. Sounds like an idea.

I'm guessing you missed Sione's tempter tantrum.

HAHAHA!! May as well be comfortable! :thumbup: Hey, I know that my views aren't popular, especially with people more liberal than myself, but I rag on ALL of 'em. I promise.

Omg, a STOVE? That's like buying Viagra for them!

Oh, no, CC! I just got your e-mail but hadn't been on this thread for a few days since I've been at the folks'! Do they think it will begin working properly eventually, or... I guess my question is, what do they do for that?

Oh, good, so I'm not the only one? :thumbup:

I know... I sound like such an ingrate. I was thisclose to having lost 50 pounds before my plateau hit. Also, I have a fill this coming Thursday, so hopefully that will help. I've noticed the last week or so I've been hungry sooner after having eaten and I can eat a bit more than I was a few weeks ago.

I'll give you my eyes to look through, my friend. You look marrolous (mimicking Billy Crystal)! Like I told you last week, just try to realize that there is ALWAYS somebody (like myself) who wishes they looked like you. :thumbup:

Actually, a week ago I did some measurements and, though I hadn't lost anything in that week, I WAS down four inches. So I try to hold onto that.

Sorry, I could have sworn we have had this conversation before the election took place and she was listed in her profile as being in California. Maybe it was somebody else. As for disagreeing with me, I hope you don't mind standing in line! :thumbup: I suppose time will tell. I HOPE I'm wrong, but I don't believe I am.

My goodness but you are a thick, ignorant woman. HERE is the link I provided at the beginning of that post: http://immigrationcounters.com/ Secondly, even IF all I provided were the stats for California, all one has to do is figure that number by 50 states. Granted, some states are hit worse than others, but still... even YOU can do the math on this one. Or so I thought... :thumbup: And that was just in 2005. Like I said, how is this all workin' for ya out there in Califuckedup?

http://immigrationcounters.com/ How are those illegals workin' for ya over there in California, BJean? The brokest state in the union, and they are a huge reason why. Cost of illegals to California $10.5 billion Analysis shows burden of native-born residents $1,183 per household http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42474 And this was just in 2005. You know, you can find this information on your own if you chose to, rather than sticking your head in the sand. But to each his (or her) own, I suppose...

I believe you can Google it. I hear they even have their own Facebook page if you want to go that route. I would be willing to bet tax day you will find quite a few. I need to find out myself, so I can't help you beyond what I said here. Edit: Patty, I found this. I have only done a simple skimming of it, but it may give you what you need: http://taxdayteaparty.com/

Well, what I love is who do you think votes in their raises and perks? THEY do!! WTH?? Where else does anybody do that?? I think they would do it for $50k because, now, it's all about the power. They don't WANT to fix this problem. Heck, Hillary and some other Dem were both caught a few weeks ago saying, "Why waste a good crisis?" They (all of them) thrive on it because, once you determine there is a crisis, you can charge in like they are doing now and start taking business away from people. It gives them the opportunity to exert even more power over the people. That is never right, nor was it ever expected by our founding fathers. In fact, this is exactly WHY they created the three branches of government -- so that there wouldn't be the problem with tyranny like they escaped in Europe. Yet we are running headlong straight back towards what our forefathers escaped from. The other alarming thing is this "fairness doctrine." Once you start dictating free speech, it's over, folks. They have already started with "hate speech" and going after people for saying un-PC things. You may not like what somebody else has to say, but they are as entitled to say it as you are to disagree. I refuse to walk in lock-step with the PC crowd. NOr do I care about namecalling and buzz words that make lesser people cow down. It's this type of crap that is helping to ruin our country. As for the illegals problem, they didn't want to do anything because they chose not to. At first they just turned a blind eye when it was a million here and there every couple of years. Now that it's upwards of 30 million of them here, all of a sudden they are a voting block. :welldoneclap:

What tappy said! :welldoneclap:

Thanks, Becky, and you put in a lot of valid points as well. I will say first off, I believe the whole illegal argument comes down to votes. That's it. The Dems wanted them because they would vote liberal, but now the Repubs have jumped on that bandwagon as well (McCain AND Bush, anybody??). Other than thinking that these people will vote for them, they add absolutely NO value to our country. And they are a big part of the reason we are paying the price now. Not the only reason, but a big part of it. When you look at what they cost us every single year, it makes their griping about the cost of the war in Iraq or their other bandwagon issues pale in comparison. Why does NOBODY say anything about the hundreds of BILLIONS illegals cost us yearly? And that's just the obvious costs!! Factor into it the fact that there are many jobs Americans WOULD do but don't have a chance because they have been underbid by illegals who live 20 people to a house and can afford to do the job for less than half the cost a legal citizen can, and no wonder Americans "won't" do the job. :welldoneclap: Now they are a huge segment of the population who have defaulted on their loans -- mortgages and otherwise. What do THEY care?? They walk away from a 100% loan and leave the country or just migrate elsewhere. As you can tell, illegals is a huge thorn in my side, but I don't want to muddy the waters and make it seem that was the ONLY problem here. There were a number of factors that all came together at one time that caused this. Some greedy big business played a part, as did greedy government, and a government that was not doing its job. If they won't even enforce FEDERAL LAWS against illegals, yet come against Joe Blow who screwed up on his taxes, there's something very wrong. If enough people could band together, I say in the near future NOBODY pays their taxes to prove a point. First, if they come after us, it proves they are hypocrites. How can they be all about enforcing a law that isn't exactly a LAW, but they won't do anything about the invasion we are experiencing?? I said it before to BJean and I'll say it again: The government's SOLE purpose when it was created was to enforce the borders and defend its inhabitants. Those are the two things they no longer do, but they have gotten into the business of schooling our kids (crappily, I might add), funding mortgages (which will also fail, as everything else they do does), and micro-managing people's lives to the point where small business -- the backbone of America -- is stifled and sometimes run out of business. They do NOTHING to make life better for people, and they have become too big and cumbersome and wasteful to ever be necessary anymore. I say it's time for a revolution and fast. As a matter of fact, on the 15th, I will be sure to find the closest Tea Party to my area and join in. It's not about Obama and it's not about any one party -- it's about ALL the corruption committed by ALL of them.

Thanks! :scared2: And Jefferson was a font of wisdom, was he not?

When faced with the other option -- bailing everybody out -- YES. Why are we rewarding failure? And what are they learning by getting all this money? Apparently nothing, based on all the things I've heard for months on end now about bonuses and planned trips to Vegas and elsewhere. Yeah, they're learning, alright. In the olden days, people who made bad decisions sometimes had to suffer from making those decisions and restructured what they were doing and USUALLY learned from those mistakes. When we reward wayward children, they learn nothing about responsibility. And when we reward wayward businesspeople who got greedy, the too learn nothing about responsibility. Maybe once it stings them in the ass, they will figure out how to rein themselves in and act appropriately. But to force the rest of US to pay for their mistakes -- then what the hell do they learn?? Yes, and no. This is the conundrum I find myself in and was talking about this very thing with my mom today. The decisions these asshats have made make a good argument for those who say that government needs to step in. I grant you that. HOWEVER, government is never the answer. Never has been, never will be. You want to see things REALLY get phucked up?? Just wait. The government never disappoints in that arena. EVER. Which is why my involvement in the Republican party may be short-lived if I don't see something different than what I see from the outside looking in. Maybe I am more Libertarian, but I WILL change parties if they do not come back to the people. I truly believed in what Reagan did. I also believe that the decisions HE made affected the Clinton era, which of course the liberals took credit for. It has been proven time and again that when people pay fewer taxes, then the economy rebounds. You can never help to make something grow by continually stifling it and taxing it into oblivion. Agree, though I will honestly admit that I am not aware of that with Reagan -- but I will look and research that claim. I was a bit young when he came into office and certainly was not politically involved in any way. But yes, the problem as I see it is the conservatives are acting like liberals, while the liberals become socialists -- and NOW, fascist in nature. Yes, some of the things Bush implemented could be considered fascist (even if on the fringe), and I disagreed with many things he chose to do. But how can you separate what HE did from what Obama is doing? I asked before but have heard no answer -- WHERE in any founding document in this country does it give government the right to unilaterally take businesses from the people and then dictate wages, bonuses, and employment of its people?? If that isn't fascist -- even in the name of "something has to be done" -- then I don't know what is. Regardless, we have 32 percent of the people who pay NOTHING -- nada, zilch, zero. That is thisclose to 1/3 of the people! Yet they get "refunds" and "stimulus money" which is redistribution of wealth, no matter how you color it. That is theft, pure and simple. I am all for ALL people paying more along the lines of a flat tax. We all pay our fair share. Even then, the rich will always pay exponentially more than everybody else simply based on the math. To force the wealthier people (or even the middle class) to foot the lion's share of the cost is not fair, especially when so many pay absolutely nothing and reap more benefits. And I don't disagree. I wish I could say I have an answer, but I don't. There has been a wave of greed all over the place that is unprecedented. However, I don't separate the greed of our government from the greed of the Wall Streeters or the AIGers or anybody else. Complete power corrupts completely, and we are seeing that. If our government was a responsible body of individuals who TRULY cared about this country at the expense of their pet projects and earmarks and pork barrel spending, then I would be more interested in hearing what they have to suggest. HOWEVER, they are the greediest of the bunch. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. The hundreds of billions of unnecessary bullshit items in this insane bailout proves to me that this is ONLY about pushing forth a skewed agenda and wasting our hard-earned money. While people are losing jobs and healthcare benefits and homes, THESE asshats are acting like it's Christmas in July and wasting unprecedented amounts of money on unnecessaries. I have a real problem with that, and if it was a Republican in office (or anybody else, for that matter), I'd be bitching just as loud. Crap is crap, no matter who is doing it. Yes, and no. I wish I had a hard-core answer that would for sure work, but right now we don't have that luxury. However, spending us into oblivion is never the answer. It may fix it for a day or a week, but next month the tab is going to come due. I think they're not only pushing off the inevitable for a while, but they are putting us in such debt that we will never recover. And I truly believe that is the case. Yes, the businesses got greedy. But a LOT of things have been in play for some time that have undermined our economy -- from doing absolutely ZIP about the illegals who not only cost us hundreds of billions a year but also take GOOD jobs from Americans (building, etc.) and shrink the pay base, to taxing businesses to such an extent that they chose to hire Pakistanis and Indians in their own countries to do the jobs, to regulating everything to high heaven and interfering in people's businesses to a point where they can no longer survive. There was a doctor that Glenn Beck had on his radio show one day who decided one day to eliminate accepting insurance and chose to charge his patients a flat fee per month. For that fee, they could come in as often as they wanted or needed, and it covered most all lab work and other things they needed done. Daddy government said, "You can't do that because you are making yourself an insurance company." He denied this and went back and forth until they finally relented, but he had to hop through insane hoops and would have been forced to charge his patients a $30 office visit (um, WHY is the government getting involved in THIS???), which would totally negate what he was trying to do. He was trying to FIX the problem in his area, help the people, and make HIS life easier. Daddy government said no way because why?? The insurance companies pay good money to the government to keep things the way they are. Could you imagine if this took off and other doctors did it and *GASP* made healthcare AFFORDABLE FOR ALL?? Imagine the horrors. :scared2: This proves to me that the government truly works AGAINST the people. Why? Because then they can claim to have the "fix" for it which requires more people to be on the dole and thereby owned by the government. I have no faith in ANY of them. I actually agree with you with one caveat: They take up ALL the slack they helped create. Oh well, then I'm unAmerican. The government may THINK they run America, but they're not entitled to, nor were they created to. It was never in the founding fathers' scope and breadth to create another England where we are run and owned by tyrants. I guess you can call me unAmerican too because I believe in the sovreignty of my own country and our ability to keep it as such; I am anti-illegal of ANY sort for ANY reason and believe they should be run out of town faster than they can say, "Holy shit;" I believe government should shut up and get the hell out of the way of the people and realize that WE run the show, not THEM -- they work for us; I will do all I can to retain my right to bear arms, a right that was guaranteed to me hundreds of years before my birth; that the welfare state DOES NOT WORK and has GOT TO GO; that if you CAN work but DON'T or WON'T work, you get cut off completely, never to come back with your hand out ever again; English is the language of the land and we will no longer cater to those of you who live here five, 10, 20 years and choose not to learn it. Screw pressing 1 for anything ever again; and anchor babies is a concept that has run its course and been abused to high heaven. No more. I am sure I can think of more, but you get the gist. Figured I would show you just how unAmerican I am, though my beliefs completely support the AMERICAN over everything else. If your idea of being American means being a doormat, well... I can't help you there. This is my country, and I believe the lack of all the things I listed above (and more) is what has ruined my country. Certainly none of those things has benefited her.