BJean

Seriously?

loserbob I hope you're not just now figuring out that she posts stuff consistently without naming her source. She passes the stuff off as if she thought up the whole rant. I suspect that sometimes she even has posted under a different name. I think, in fact, you may be the one who noticed that first.

Let's get this straight, you want the government to do NOTHING? So you won't have to pay taxes, right? Tell me a country that doesn't have income taxes - a developed country - and tell me what their standard of living is overall. How about comparing our country to a country in lets say, South Africa, where no income taxes are paid. How are their roads, their health, their personal safety, and the list goes on, as you like to say. This country is great because we DO CARE about all of our fellow countrymen. We have the best things because of our government. All the good stuff doesn't just pop up out of thin air. Tea baggers are downright stupid if they think it is best to have the government do nothing! They think that the country just recovers from corrupt bankers and greed corporations by doing NOTHING. Yeah I'd like to see one example of a country the size of ours where this actually worked. And yes, what we've seen is a resession but what we were facing, without government intervention, was a DEPRESSION. Two very different things. So far the country hasn't recovered from a severe depression without the government getting involved. So as usual, your logic is based on a misrepresentation of the facts.

Typical, just typical. I'm sure the tea baggers are eating it up.

Oh my, I learn something important and new here everyday! I take Wellbutrin. When I had emergency surgery a couple of years ago (colon resection) I was off my happy pills for 4 days straight. I became what you might call suicidal. I was all for allowing the surgical staff to let me die and in fact, I told them to. When my doctor's surgical assistant met with me just before surgery, she asked if she could pray with me and I said NO. Can you even imagine? I was so totally not myself and until I started taking Wellbutrin again I was pretty much a basket case and my husband was seriously concerned about me. I have learned that there is a crushable 100 mg. Wellbutrin that I am going to try to use post sleeve surgery. With all the crazy hormone issues that arise after the sleeve surgery, I know that I really need to make sure I get some of that medication and the regular Wellburtin's instructions say, "do not crush" so in case anybody reading this has the same problem, check with your doctor or pharmacist. Having Tiffy tell me that it will be important to take it with food is a great operating tip. Thanks again for your help, Tiffany!!

To have that kind of metabolism would be wonderful. Except the doctors say that people who are that thin are not always as healthy as someone who is overweight. So although the grass may look greener, sometimes what you see isn't really something to wish for.

You betcha! I think you're the greatest, Cleo's! *wink, grin*

As for the cartoon, that's why they have such little credibility. The fact that they do not piss and moan about the same exact problems during a Republican administration makes it pretty obvious that it isn't really about taxes and big government. It's about things like abortion, gun control, subsidies for the wealthy and seapration of church and state. As for your second post, if the Tea baggers were honest and interested enough to research the financial backers of their movement, I don't think they would be surprised or care. They're just glad that someone is paying for their signs and organizing their protest rallies. They are some of the most transparent right wing extremists on the planet. I've actually heard some regular people say they agree with some of the ideology of the tea baggers. Well sure, who isn't for lower taxes, fewer government programs, etc.? But that isn't what it's REALLY about and anyone who thinks it is, is just not looking hard enough behind the scenes. And we should all thank Cleo's for keeping it real!!

OMG Tiffy, your message was so helpful it made me cry. Who me, emotional? You know exactly how I'm feeling and you couldn't have said it better. Thank you so much. I will print your post and keep it handy for when I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong if I hit a low spot. I've read a couple of people say that getting the sleeve was actually easier than the band surgery. I've not allowed myself to believe that it would be the case for me though and you telling me to get rid of those negative thoughts was a real wake up call! Why have I decided that I'm going to experience the worst case scenario? I'm going to focus on your very positive words and other positive posts instead of worrying about the negative possibilities. After all, I know I can actually handle any hand I'm dealt. Why not assume I'm going to get a Royal Flush?! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Yaaay Key's Pirate!!! I was reading this thread and that was exactly what I was thinking!! I don't know about the rest of you but I've been on diets for the greater part of my adult life. My obese body has been put through all that and the band. Now it has become one efficient calorie saving machine. It never knows when I'm going to try to starve it again so it just hangs on to every thing I give it. When I dieted some of those real low calorie diets, I too thought the thing I was going to have to do was to cut even more calories to start losing again when I was stalled. Well I learned that if I ate MORE instead of less when I stalled, the pounds started falling off again. After a few days of that, I could cut back again and see a significant weight loss. Until I read this thread I had forgotten all about that. I probably would have done exactly the same thing as most of you and cried a lot and wondered how in the world I was going to be able to exist on even less! You need to not only eat more Protein but at this point you probably should get in a little fat too. The cheeses are good for that. And who doesn't like cheese! I agree that all this is counter intuitive, but it is absolutely true and if if trying it for a couple of days doesn't jump start your losses again, then all you have to do is begin again with what you were doing when you were losing quickly. Best of continued success for all of you and I hope that when I get to this stage, I won't forget the remedy. If I do forget, please remind me. When we're depressed and not losing and eating very little, it is easy to get foggy brained and kinda out of it. You're doing well - you've lost a good amount of weight so far - and you should be very proud of your progress and happy that you're well on the road to a healthier, slimmer you!!

Have you ever blended the Costco Premier shakes with ice? Anything canned sounds more user friendly than the protein powder. I always have to worry about what I'm going to mix with my whey protein powder. But I was told by my dietician that I can't use skim milk because of the sugars in milk. She says that it messes up the enzymes in your stomach and keeps good things from happening. Have you ever heard that? I don't mean to question her knowledge, but isn't whey protein a form of milk?

This administration is not the government. So to pretend that any poll that says Americans distrust the government means that they distrust the president is just plain stupid. But if Americans distrust the government, it is very probable that it is because of things that have happened over the course of history. If a poll wants to know if Americans distrust the president, then that is the question it will ask. And to address your sarcastic remark, we don't think that the president is the second coming, but we know that he is trying to fix what's broken. And getting rid of programs that are ineffective, outdated and mismanaged is one of his priorities. But to say that there are NO GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS that are running financially stable is quite a stretch. You always tend to exaggerate. Why don't you just stick to what you know. And you know that you don't know that ALL government programs are unstable. Or if you don't understand that, you don't care that you don't know, but you're willing to state it anyway. Hmmmm, sounds a lot like some of the proclamations of the tea baggers.

iluvaleo, Louisiana, that's cool. Is he getting as nervous as I am? I'm not too worried about the surgery itself, just more about the learning how to eat and drink without pain and nausea afterwards.

FAB50, yes it's rude and it is very, very ignorant. You can't help but wish that they could gain lots of weight just to see how it feels - just for a day!

Well the closer I get to my surgery date, the more petrified I become. I'm not worried about the pain from surgery. I'm not actually worried about missing any foods at all. I'm worried mostly about the first month or two. I am beginning to figure out that it is going to be a very painful process of learning what works and what doesn't and what will happen as a result of doing something that doesn't work. I have visions of lots of pain and nausea dancing in my head. After going through all the pain of having the band I am worried that going through this is going to be just as bad and take just as long to figure out. I'd like to think that I can be smart enough going into surgery that from the first moment I begin to ingest Water or ice chips or anything, I can prevent the nausea and I can use a tiny baby spoon and prevent the spasms. Am I being totally naive? Don't worry, I can handle the truth! What are considered "slider" foods by most people? I've noticed that some people say they can't eat anything in the morning and others say they have a harder time eating at night. You're 9 months or so out from surgery so you may have fogotten these things. Or since you had some complications, your situation might be different than what I will go through. But I appreciate any help you have for me Tiffy. You must have helped dozens and dozens of people through this by now. You are one of the very best at supporting people here. And trust me, we all thank you so very much for sticking with us as we face the very scary unknown!

cleo's your recap of the Bush election and his subsequent behavior as president is relevant when the right wing behaves as if Obama is selling us down the river. They seem to have loved it when Bush actually did sell us down the river. They loved that rich white boy who didn't show up for his military duty, who crashed and burned in the oil business, who was a miserable governor and who is obviously a selfish twit, ran this country. And knowning that, why is it surprising that they dislike a man who is well educated, cares about those who are not wealthy, adept at handling foeign affairs, who actually shows up to work and tells his fellow Americans what is going on and what he has planned for this country, and who is actually trying to fix the things that are wrong for Americans? As for the election, when the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, participated in the scam of the election of his brother, I lived there then and if you had any idea how pervasive the corruption was on a precinct by precinct basis there, you'd probably be shocked. And it didn't just happen in Florida. I have personal knowledge of similar corruption in the St. Louis area. Where else they had their goons in place to keep Democratic votes from being counted I have no idea. But I have a pretty good guess.

As for the birthers, during the campaign when people questioned his citizenry, Obama's people supplied his birth certificate. But even with the evidence smacking them in the face, they still claim he is not a citizen of the U.S. These people are idiots - nut balls - numbskulls with their own policital agenda. Why in the world anyone is still paying any attention to them at all is the true mystery!!

I think the people at the forefront making up the stuff that the tea baggers say are the wealthy well-educated folks. The followers, the real baggers themselves, are just regular folks, like you and me - but without a brain.

Ain't it the truth Fab! I know there have been times when my demeanor was probably partially to blame. But most of the time I think it's just because people discriminate against fat people. My sister is very heavy and when I was thin and we would go out together I actually heard guys make fun of her - within earshot! I wanted to smack them. She has always been overweight even when she was a kid so I guess she learned how to cope with it. But it had to hurt. When I gained weight I was still surprised that people could be so rude and insensitive. But it always hurt me more for my sister than myself. I probably felt like I deserved it.

angel, thanks. I'm getting kinda freaked. Didn't sleep at all last night. Tiffy, I know you had a really rough start. But after the 4th or 5th month mark when you got your appetite back, was it hard to make yourself stay on the diet? I think those of us who are getting ready for surgery have as one of our biggest fears, that for some reason we won't be as successful as everybody else and we'll be back to our old really stupid eating for emotional reasons thing and potentially, like with the band, only lose weight initially and not be able to get 'er done - goal wise.

She may read them but that doesn't mean that she understands them. I found a couple more items in that post that she wouldn't agree with if you separated them from the PEW poll.

Great suggestion. I tried that. They're too tight with a buck. I even suggested nickels. Fortunately there are a couple of other gals who share my poliltics and we enjoy exchanging glances when one of them begins to spew right wing garbage. The most obnoxious ones are old (70s) and former military wives. They think they're being patriotic. They use the term "socialist" when they speak of Obama, but let's face it, they'be been sucking at the government teat their husband's entire career. I apologize for that visual. I just couldn't come up with anything that describes it better.

Ya'll keep up the good work. It gives me some hope. I play Bridge with some women who love the Tea Party movement. And yes, they're just as dumb at card playing.

I'm curious patty, how many people were polled? Who were these people? How were their opinions obtained?

Well that opinion poll is aptly named. Americans distrust anyone who has any power these days. And why wouldn't they? They've been screwed royally by the Republican majority for 8 years running. So far, the new Democratic administration and congress have acted like they're trying to make things right. But although they have passed health care reform and have worked to keep the economy from tanking, they haven't made the very drastic changes that Americans need and require from their government. The Republicans want everyone to believe that the Democrats are turning America into a socialist country but the reality is a very different thing. But that doesn't keep them from screaming "socialism!" and wringing their hands and beating their chests in a very raucous display of politics at its' worst. Most Americans have a good idea of what's really going on. They are not as motivated to chant and wave placards and strap on their guns and march in the streets, but trust me, the majority of us have high hopes that the administration will keep moving us in a better direction.