marjon9

Lee is actually black. And some who know him have said some nice things about him. I'm not sure if that affects any of your comments, but I just thought I'd mention it.

Since you and the other "pro life" types clearly oppose abortion for even for "extreme cases, i.e. Mother's in danger of death" it is very strange, indeed, that you attempt to claim these people as supporters of your position. Pretty revealing, too. Are you suggesting that you support abortion in extreme cases? If not, why are these people "pro life"? All those people who said that they support abortion in extreme cases had the option to choose "pro life" in this poll, but they did not. But then, I guess the opinions of those people "don't really matter." I don't agree with the pro life position, but I respect it, at least when people are honest and stand up for what they really believe. There is no need to sacrifice your beliefs in an effort to look better in a poll that you clearly lost in terms of the numbers. The large majority of people don't agree with the pro-life position. That is clear in this poll and in national politics in general. But the majority is sometimes wrong. At least stand by you beliefs.

Yes, I was one of the beaded/bearded ones. A fabulous furry freak brother. I had long thick luxurious hair down my back that was right out of a commercial for L'Oreal or something. I always felt that a woman should have gotten my hair. I did not put it to good use. Eyelashes, too. Betty Boop would have known what to do with them. Some of my favorite photos that I have from that time are my college ID photos. My eyes look like a couple of those cheap spiral "hypnosis" eyeglasses you could buy for a buck off the back of a comic book. Those were the days. I don't really remember why I started wearing shoes. I think it must have been when I started college. They probably did not appreciate bare feet in the class room.

When I was a teenager growing up in Los Angeles I went barefoot for a year. Not an easy "feet," (get it?) especially in Los Angeles (the land of few gentle meadows). But then again, it probably would have been even harder in Canada or Wisconsin, if you catch my "drift" (get it?). I can say without hesitation that I do not recommend going barefoot for a year in Los Angeles. During that period of time I did not need to consider whether or not to remove my shoes when entering someone's home. But then again, I was invited into few homes at that time, so it did not come up much.

You definitely should. When in good form, the Rants and Raves section competes favorably with a Barrel of Monkeys.

TOM is "Tired Old Man" He was a great contributor to the forum and brought some very interesting controversial subjects to the table, but he stopped posting a few months ago. I think he mentioned that he got a little busy in his personal life. Ron Cusano was a conservative religious fellow who started the thread "Anti-Semitism in France," which allowed all of us to rant about religion for a few months. It was quite a lively debate. As for deleting posts, I really have not paid any attention to that if the moderators have done that. I don't have any problem with the moderators and generally find them to be quite tolerant. When I mentioned the "thought police" I was speaking about members of this forum who have raked me over the coals for discussing some controversial topics. I've been told on a number of occassions that my posts are in "bad taste" and should be deleted. I find that type of attitude pretty ridiculous, but in any event, sometimes it is just not worth the trouble dealing with the bile that comes my way so I don't bother posting. The overall forum and moderators are fine as far as I'm concerned, it's just the "thought police" that irritate me sometimes. That's the story from my point of view.

That sounds good. The one thing I ask is that you write something that is highly offensive to a meaningful segment of the list membership.

I also miss TOM. And I never thought I'd say this, but I'm even starting to miss Ron Cusano.

Fear not, green, my dresses are always well chosen.

In general I think it is fair to say that the whole Rants and Raves section has become a pitiful shadow of its former glory. All I can say is, I tried. It's hard to feel motivated to raise interesting issues when the Thought Police are so determined to stamp out anything they deem to be in "bad taste."

If you have a chance I'd like to hear more about why at least 24 hours, and where you obtained that guidance. Also hopefully others will answer. I'd like to hear from other people if they abide by that rule too.

I PB all the time. I even do it recreationally for target practice. If I had to go on liquids every time I PB I would not be eating much solid food. I guess what I am trying to say is, I don't go on liquids after a PB. I think I've heard that some doctors say you should. I'll be interested to hear what others have to say about this.

As with all things with the band, there is a lot of variety in different people's experiences. If you hold back on the fills and don't have restriction you can "eat anything" all the time, no need to wait a year. But that is not really ideal for weight loss, of course. If you have good restriction so the band is working for you, you will probably find that certain foods are not good choices because they get stuck. (Although some people find they can eat anything even with good restriction, just smaller portions, so you never know). And, as Harley Girl said, the whole thing can change from day to day (or even different times of the day). But it is important to remember that these limitations do not necessarily result in feelings of great deprivation. If, for example, one of your favorite foods right now is pizza, you may find that after a while it is not your favorite any more. Most people find that tastes do change once you have the band. Hard to explain why, but they do. So even if you can't eat everything that you love today, you'll probably find that this is not something that causes great feelings of deprivation later.

You ask whether you really want to go through with it, and that is a question we have all asked ourselves. I guess the answer to that question depends on what the alternatives are. Most of us with high BMIs have never been able lose weight using "conventional" methods like diet, exercise, or even "pills." With a BMI of 40.3 my guess is that you would say the same about yourself. So, what is the alternative to getting the band? We know diet and exercise won't work. So, if you don't get the band I think it is fair to say that the alternative is steadily increasing BMI and ever expanding serious heath problems. I think it is fair to say that if you don't do something drastic, the medical problems you already have have will "increase and multiply" as the saying goes. If you keep gaining weight you'll decrease your quality of life substantially and it will probably cause you to die much younger than you otherwise might. I also asked myself if I really wanted to put myself through the band. When I looked at the alternatives I eventually decided that it was the right thing to do. I've been losing more slowly than I would have liked, but I'm losing steadily again now. My BMI has dropped from 44.5 to 39. And if I had not gotten the band I would probably have continued gaining, so you have to count that too. So, I'm glad I did this. Is it a magic answer? No. It's not easy and it takes work. But what is the alternative?

This may not be much help, but I just want to mention that there are many different prices out there for lap band surgery. Most of the doctors in my area charge around $25,000. So I went out of my area and found a great doctor in Colorado for under $10,000 (see my signature for his web site). In addition, the docs in Mexico have a great reputation and they are around $8500. Don't mean to state the obvious, but it can be much easier to save/finance these smaller amounts. You folks may know all this already, but I just thought I'd throw it out there in case. Good luck.

Since movies are the topic of discussion, I'll mention one of my all time favorites that is sort of in the Shallow Hal genre, Muriel's Wedding. It's an amazing (and very funny) story of a really unglamorous, overweight, plain-looking woman who faced her own demons and triumphed in her own life, leaving in the dust her shapely and shallow former "friends" who rejected her in the past for not being cool enough to be in with the in crowd. This is a really uplifting film.

Here's a recipe I like. Place Orange Roughy on large ceramic dinner plate and cover tightly with several layers of plastic wrap. Smother with a 20 oz charcoal grilled Porterhouse steak, medium rare, broccoli in cheese sauce, and baked potato with obscene quantities of butter and sour cream. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately. Try it, you'll like it.

In case you have not run across it, there is a thread called "Considering Dr. Kirshenbaum." It has a lot of information about him and the staff. You might want to check it out. You'll see most people are quite happy with them. I had a great experience there all around. I think it is the best thing going, especially for self-payers. Good luck.

I did not want people to know about the lap band surgery so I just said I was a crack addict going into rehab. The whole thing got blown out of proportion a little bit and by the time all was said and done, the local newspaper did a second page story on me describing me as the "only known fat crack addict." It makes sense that there would not be many others, when you think of it. So anyway, the story got onto YouTube, and people started sending me contributions to pay for my rehab. The total I received ended up being about $12,339.00, which covered the cost of the lap band surgery almost to the penny. Actually, the real story is, I told only my boss, and I'm pretty glad I kept it a secret. I'm just a private sort of person in general and I did not want to have people looking over my shoulder during this process.

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lovestoned: What you went through really sucked. You had a right to be devastated and upset and feel angry at the world for a good long time. But ... now you've been there and done that. Continuing to focus on this bad experience is not going to help change things. The fact is, it's time to start focusing on finding a different way to get the band, without insurance. The band can be had for about $10,000. Many of the Mexican doctors are very good and they do the work for around $8500. My surgeon (you can find him in my signature) is also very good, he's in Denver and he charges $9950. You will make back the $10,000 many times over in reduced food cost, reduced medical bills, greatly improved quality of life, and very likely extended longevity overall. There is no better way to spend $10,000. As WasaBubble said, when you want it badly enough, you will find a way to get it. So, let's gitterdone!:bounce::whoo::clap2: If you are like 95% of the people here, you won't regret it.

Great news, Shesha. Losing one pound at a time is all you can do. My latest fill is working pretty well so far. Last night I spent two hours at an office hors d'oeuvres party with a major golf ball in my throat for the whole time. The first bite got stuck, and that was the end of that. So, I know I do have restriction. But, I did not even mind the golf ball. I'm just glad to have the restriction.

In my view I also consider the words "God" and "Creator" to be benign and good words. I believe in both in a different form than you do, simply because it is inconceivable to me that the glories and perfection of the universe are entirely accidental and random. Moreover, I also believe that the Christian values of the earliest Americans helped make this a unique, generous and welcoming country. And contributions from other good people did the same. I don't find anything about Christianity to be negative, threatening, or anything to be afraid of. The ONLY issue I have is that many Christians seem to have a propensity for wanting to force others to live by their moral code. You say that you don't think prayer or a particular religion should ever be forced on anyone. That's great. I appreciate that. But many other "Christians" have a very different view, and they continue to push for prayer in school, the teaching of Creationism in the classroom, and the assertion of physical control over the bodies of others based on religious values. That is what I have a problem with. So, I am glad to hear that you are not one who is interested in forcing your views on others. I truly appreciate that. But when I see people argue that "we should be proud of how we started" and "we do not have to give up our soul to try and please everyone," the hair goes up on the back of my neck. These are the arguments people use who support prayer in school. I'm glad to hear that you are not using these arguments for such a purpose.

That is an argument that could persuade some women not to get an abortion. It is a strong argument and I can see your point. But I also have to say that I don't think it is a reason take the choice away from the woman who was raped and to force her not to have an abortion and keep the child of her rapist. This is an area where the final choice cannot be dictated by the state or the church. It is a personal decision which must be left up to the individual woman. But I would fully support your efforts to persuade women of your point of view. You make a good argument that might make sense to some women.

I have not followed this whole discussion and if I missed something that was said a few posts back I apologize. But I want to make some general comments about the post I am quoting. The thing that worries me here is that this is basically the argument for prayer in school, and similar things of that nature, which are profoundly offensive to many people. There are places in this country where 95% of the people would vote for prayer in school on the ground "we should be proud of how we started" and "we do not have to give up our soul to try and please everyone." But the thing is, this country is not simply based on majority rule. If a majority of people believe that blacks and whites should not marry, they don't get to make laws reflecting those beliefs. The Constitution protects individual rights against the majority. That's what makes this country so special and so different. The fact that the same is not true in Iran is not an impressive argument. And nothing could possibly be more individual than religious beliefs, or the lack of them. You say that you discuss "God" with your Jewish and Muslim friends and everyone basically agrees. But there are many people here who are not Christian, Muslim, or Jewish. The Constitution protects their rights just as much as the rights of Christians and Jews. You say that "God" in various documents would not offend any "religious" person. But not everyone is religious. You talk about the religious beliefs of the founders of our country and describe those beliefs as the "core" and "soul" of our country. But not everyone agrees with you. In my view, the "core" and "soul" of our country is our Constitution, which protects individual rights. In my view, that is the core belief that draws most of the world to want to live here, not because the founders were Christians or created a country based on Christian values. No one debates that the founders of this country were religious. But thankfully they had the wisdom to make the core values of this country be something OTHER THAN their own religious beliefs. They created a Constitution that separates church and state, and protects the rights of the individual.