green

I am writing in response in Nora's earlier post. Most of my father's family perished in the Holocaust too, but I certainly do not see anything wrong with comparing the tactics of this government to those employed during Hitler's early years in power. Indeed, some American pundits have remarked on certain similarities; fear mongering and the erosion of civil rights would be an example of how to manipulate a nation and thereby get them acquiescent and on board with governmental policies. There has been a number of people who have posted on this site who have expressed concerns that they may be viewed as treasonous for simply holding views that run counter to those of the current administration. Treason of course means that one has been involved in actions that have actively aided and abetted an enemy of the homeland. Simply speaking your mind in a free and democratic country is far from being a treasonous act and yet this current climate of paranoia has done this damage to the United States it seems. This is kind of a shocker, isn't it? Fear is a powerful manipulative tool for those who wield it, whether they be preachers or the government. (A further note re my father: he managed to make it England and once he was cleared by security, and this took some months, he served in the army and eventually in British intelligence. Had he landed up in Canada or the United States, it is possible that he might have spent those years in an internment camp instead.)

Like Lila, I got my band done at the Toronto Lap Band Centre (TLBC). $16000 covers the surgery and life-long aftercare, all fills. A line of credit or renegotiating your mortgage would probably the cheapest way to finance the operation.

The issue here is one of informed consent.

This is a facinating and chilling document. Thanks for posting this.

An excellent post, Honey Bun.

Working in an aircraft company was definitely kewl although it had its drawbacks. Someday when I am in the mood I will write about it in some detail. But as for now, here is today's grumble: I put on my old pair of favourite jeans. They are a size 18 petite. Petite means that their legs end where mine do, at the ankles. Although I was able to get them on without lying down and wrestling them on there are considerable amounts of fat above the waistband and below, scallops of fat. Crumpled, cellulite-y fat at that. Green still looks like a sausage. She has a long, long way to go.... And she is not feeling much in the way of a restriction. *sob*

Obviously neither an animal nor a child can give informed consent to marriage. To raise this question is to introduce an irrelevancy into the discussion. The question of polygamy is more complicated: there are two religions, Islam and Mormon, that endorse polygamy.

Oh, soviet Canuckistan is what one of your Christian fundamentalist preacher politicians - maybe Pat Robertson ?? - once called Canada. I found this so cute that I often refer to my country as Soviet Canuckistan when writing about it to American friends.:biggrin1:

I usually agree with you, Bitter, but on the issue of paying school taxes I don't. Like yourself, I have animals instead of children and yet I believe that single people should contribute to school taxes. Educated young people make for strong and stable neighbourhoods and indeed for a strong and stable country. They are also likely to be employed, productive adults, ones that will be paying into those programmes that support retirees instead of sucking up our tax monies through welfare, police, judicial and prison costs. I will add that raising children is a much more expensive proposition for the parents than maintaining a menagerie of pets. I kinda think that you and I got off lightly.:heh:

Right on!!!:clap2:

Up here in Soviet Canuckistan we have same sex marriage, universal health care, and recognize the legal rights of couples who choose to live together without getting married. The sky hasn't fallen in. God has not smote us. This is still an affluent country with a high standard of living where people are free to practise their religion or not, as the case may be.

CONGRATULATIONS, CLOE! from Green

Applying the Bible's teachings to homosexuals but not to divorce, nor to slavery nor to eating a ham & cheese sandwhich sounds like cherrypicking to me. There must be a separation between church and state. How people choose to conduct their personal spiritual lives is of course another matter and should lie between themselves and their God.

Bush showed compassion to your young relative, Chris. Clinton got a BJ from someone who was not his wife. What does either act have to do with being a competent president?

Hey, Vinesqueen, thanx for the website. I've never heard of Oberman before - I'm a Canuck - but I have spent some enjoyable time loitering on this site. This guy is good!

Faithful Muslims have accepted God in their hearts. They are anxious that we do, too.

You might be interested to know that there is a website devoted to the antics of BuSh and company. It is called the Smirking Chimp and indeed he does look rather like a smirking chimp.

Folks who live in other countries never really understood the big deal that was made over Clinton's sexual infidelity. This was not an issue that in anyway interfered with his political abilities. It was an issue that lay between himself and his wife.

Hey! Cute kids!

Skinny legs jeans at Penningtons, eh. I have to go see. Congrats on your new size. Have fun at the soiree.

Not everybody is the same. Homosexuals are a minority. Should their rights be respected or not? Should the rights of those who are atheists be respected or not? And what about the rights of Muslims, Jew, Buddhists, and other individuals who live in this country and whose beliefs are not specifically Christian? Is this country ruled by civil rights or by the Bible's teachings?

The Toronto Lap Band Centre charges $16000 Canadian for the operation and all aftercare, including unlimited fills. Taking into account the weaker Canadian dollar this price seems to be on a par with the most reasonable of the U.S. centres and cheaper than many of them. Of course this equation always changes when you live far away from a centre that offers lap band surgery for then you have to factor in the cost of airfares and the added problem of finding a local "fill" doctor. From what I have read on this site the Mexican centres are terrific and provide great patient care. The two doctors who are the TLBC's surgeons are also terrific and provide great patient care. Do the Mexican centres include free aftercare, including fills, in their fees? And what about getting there? Is it easier, cheaper, and faster to get to Toronto? or does it not matter? I find myself asking you these questions because I know that you are living in an extremely remote part of Canada. It may well be cheaper for you to fly to Mexico than to Toronto. (My husband and I wanted to fly to the Canadian north; it was much cheaper for us to fly to Paris!) You have a lot of research to do. I hope that my post has helped.

Hello, Newbie. My operation was day surgery and the surgeon promised me that I would be feeling functional within a few days. He was right. I had the operation on Thursday around noon. The surgery itself takes 30-45 minutes. By 6 PM I was home and in bed. I was still pretty heavily sedated from the operation and so I found myself drifting in and out of sleep. Moreover, in order to forestall any possible future pain, my husband was feeding me the demerol that had been prescribed by the surgeon. In brief, I was in lala land and enjoying it. At the time my biggest concern was that the cat wouldn't try to sleep on my stomach. By the next morning I was feeling much, much better though very tired. To tell the truth the only real pain that I experienced was from the gas that they pump into you during the operation. I did spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday in bed though; I was enjoying the time out. I read and slept a lot. By Monday I was up and feeling great except for those gas pains. During the first week I drank nothing but clear fluids which was what my surgeon wanted and I used a pill crusher for my meds. This is to give your stomach time to recover. I didn't feel hungry. The following couple of weeks I lived on soups (Gardenay) and yogurt and then I moved on to soft foods. This wasn't difficult because the menu plan called for a lot of snacks and so it seemed that I was always eating. I found the experience to be both interesting and positive. I've lost some weight and am feeling much better about myself. My eating habits have improved. I continue to lose weight at the rate of 1 to 2 lbs per week.

Yep, a number of my posts are missing.

Cloe, did you get my answer to your PM?