Ok so I love polls. And I love politics. So what political party has the most lapband recipient votes? We'll soon find out!!

I don't know....do you think it's safe for her to be driving in her condition?

Well, you don't risk a DUI when you're drinking the Kool Aid, but you do risk a pedestrian's stopping you and demanding the right to the car that you just paid off.

To criticize Obama's jokes about housing and financial topics is laughable for sure. Where were you when McCain was downright hateful with his humor? Or did you just forget to mention your distain for that?

What? I watched the whole thing and did not see anything "hateful" from either side. Please do tell what you were watching that was "hateful"? Did you not hear some booing when Obama made the "joke" about AIG? Maybe I am the only one who heard that. Anyway, I was laughing along with Obama until that one, made me cringe a bit, not for any other reason than it pisses me off that we are bailing their asses out and they are using OUR money to go hunting and having spa treatments. That in no way shape or form can be funny to me. Sorry.

Or maybe once again, we'll have to admit that all have our own ways of looking at and interpreting things.

I do not hesitate to admit that we for sure have our own interpretations, obviously.

What? I watched the whole thing and did not see anything "hateful" from either side.

I agree. The only reason I posted McCain's speech and not Obama's is because I found Obama's to be slightly boring while McCain's was, IMO, hilarious. I just didn't want to waste anyone's time with something that wasn't really, really good. Obama did get some good lines in there, but overall it wasn't the belly-laughs that McCain got.

Well, you don't risk a DUI when you're drinking the Kool Aid, but you do risk a pedestrian's stopping you and demanding the right to the car that you just paid off.

Yeah...but only if you have more than one and he doesn't have any!

Yeah...but only if you have more than one and he doesn't have any!

Nope. If you're drinking the Kool Aid, the only thing that matters is whether HE thinks you have too many. Whether you TRULY have more than you need (however THAT's defined) is inconsequential.

....hey.....hey...hey....where's MY Kool Aid? where's MY pure water....I want it delivered right away!!!!

Of course, sir. Right away, sir. I'm sure we can find someone else to pay for FedEx delivery of your pure water and your Kool Aid, because, after all, you deserve it. And you deserve it tomorrow, even if it's extra to pay for Saturday delivery, and even if you chose to live in a rural area -- it matters not. If someone won't volunteer to pay for it, we'll just call it a "tax" and bill them for it anyway.

My wife and I have guardianship over a 41 year old woman who has Down Syndrome [. . .]

One of the first things I did was work to get her a state photo ID (a difficult thing, since in Texas you need 3 forms of ID to get a state photo ID). It took a month's work to get things going for a girl lost in the system, but it was well worth it.

If it is worth it for a woman who will never be legally allowed to vote (and God help us if she ever gets the right), it should be worth it for anyone who wants to vote.

Steve, I've been thinking about this since you posted it a few days ago. I assume this woman will "never be legally allowed to vote" because she has Down Syndrome. Is that correct? If so, how is that determination made? To my knowledge, there isn't a basic literacy test (or any other test) that must be passed prior to being allowed to register to vote. How did the state determine that she doesn't have the right to vote? Or am I misreading/misinterpreting/misunderstanding completely? I'm very curious -- could you enlighten me? Thanks!

Steve, I've been thinking about this since you posted it a few days ago. I assume this woman will "never be legally allowed to vote" because she has Down Syndrome. Is that correct? If so, how is that determination made? To my knowledge, there isn't a basic literacy test (or any other test) that must be passed prior to being allowed to register to vote. How did the state determine that she doesn't have the right to vote? Or am I misreading/misinterpreting/misunderstanding completely? I'm very curious -- could you enlighten me? Thanks!

Well, while Theresa was still a teenager, he mother went through work of having her listed as a dependant adult, sometimes called an incapaciated adult.

In the state of Texas, and I believe in most if not all states, when deemed incapacitated, there are several stipulations. One, you must have a guardian (after her mother's death in 2006, Lisa and I applied and we gained guardianship). Two, you will not have certain priviliges and responsibilities, (ie driving, voting, sitting on juries, military service,etc.)

The background is that in all these things you must be able to legally sign for yourself. To drive, to vote, to be on a jury, you must sign for yourself. Since she can not sign for herself, she has no legal ability to participate.

Of course, that brings me to another question from the debates:

When did Sarah Palin become an expert on Autism?

I ask this question because it came up a couple of times in the debate without challenge. "she knows special needs... Autism is on the rise, and she can help..."

From 1991-98, I was insturmental in developing programs for the Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church for people with mental retardation. During that time I worked closely with numerous people with special needs and their families.

From 2004 to late 2006 I was the director of the Houston Area Respite Center, serving children with mental retardation and autism.

Sarah Palin has a 5 month old child with Down Syndrome. I look forward to seeing much about that child, and applaud her love for that child.

But there is a big difference between infants with Down Syndrome and a child with autism. I know the first time I had a 16 year old child with autism walk over me look I wasn't there, changed an 18 year old's diaper, etc, it changed my view.

I don't think either presidental candidate realizes that, if they get to finish their two terms, that they will be facing 1 in 150 of their 18 year olds having some form of autism. I don't know about Sarah Palin, but I would rather be in a room with 10 Down Syndrome children that try to corrall 2 children with Autism. It is rough, and something that all society will have to face.

That is one that I don't think, in spite of both McCain and Obama mentioning it in the last debate, either have any clue about.

Well, while Theresa was still a teenager, he mother went through work of having her listed as a dependant adult, sometimes called an incapaciated adult.

In the state of Texas, and I believe in most if not all states, when deemed incapacitated, there are several stipulations. One, you must have a guardian (after her mother's death in 2006, Lisa and I applied and we gained guardianship). Two, you will not have certain priviliges and responsibilities, (ie driving, voting, sitting on juries, military service,etc.)

The background is that in all these things you must be able to legally sign for yourself. To drive, to vote, to be on a jury, you must sign for yourself. Since she can not sign for herself, she has no legal ability to participate.

Thanks for educating me on this.

I am happy to see that Colin Powell has the good sense to support Senator Obama. And the really nice thing was to hear someone with his background and his ability to express his beliefs so succinctly, speak this morning to the question of which is the better presidential nominee. I missed the first part of Meet the Press, but in the part I did see, I was relieved to be listening to a man like Colin Powell instead of the political pundits and biased news commentators for a change.

I know that you Republicans have expressed your respect and love of Colin Powell in the past. I hope you won't now start calling him names and accusing him of being a socialist, a terrorist, or Muslim who is not patriotic because he doesn't wear some silly pin.

But after reading some of the posts here, I am sure you're silently (or loudly) cursing him. And it shouldn't take you long to come up with something to try to sully his good name.

Edited October 19, 200817 yr by BJean

Steve, I have a lot of respect for you - my fellow Methodist. I grew up in the Methodist church and love the fact that they care so much about social problems and about the human condition.

What are your thoughts on the cause of autism? I know many extremists believe that people are misdiagnosing autism and that there are no more people with autism now than there have ever been.

Sarah Palin has a sister (or sister-in-law or whatever) who has a child with autism. It makes her an expert on autism, just like having Russia close in proximity to Alaska makes her an expert on foreign policy.

What are your thoughts on the cause of autism? I know many extremists believe that people are misdiagnosing autism and that there are no more people with autism now than there have ever been.

Well, there is no doubt that better diagnosis accounts for some (note I said some) cases... but in no way can it account for numbers going from 1 child in 10,000 25 years ago to 1 in 150 today (and some studies now showing it as 1 in 133).

Many parents believe the mercury in the childrens shots as a reason. I don't really buy that argument, though I know some highly educated parents who do. Two things are clear:

One, that many times, autism shows itself dramatically around 2 years old, when children get their shots.... some parents have noted a regression in their children within days, or even hours after receiving their shots.

Two, the pharmacutical lobby has made sure that no one investigates the mercury/autism connection (congress has closed the books on all investigation, saying that the drug companies did enough internally... And have made it clear that lawsuits against drug companies to get testing done is prohibited.

Like I said, without more than circumstantial evidence, I am not convenced. But it is clear that something external has happened to make it rise.

So in essence, you asked the $10,000,000 question.

I do think autism misdiagnosis is a problem. My daughter was diagnosed by a Dr who literally saw her for 5 mins as autistic when she was 5. COMPLETELY wrong, she is just speech impaired.

But my personal opinion that all the chemicals in our foods are to blame for a lot of children's problems today. My generation (those in our 30's) are a generation of HUGE infertility problems. Most of my friends have had these problems. And then our children have problems. In the 60's/70s processing food became more prominent and more chemicalized. No wonder our children have problems. BUT I am no expert. Just my rant! :biggrin:

My twin grandsons' doctor in the Los Angeles area, explained the risks to us. He made us think about whether these little preemie boys should take the chance of going without some of the vaccinations that are usually given to small children, or take the chance of becoming autistic. So although the pharmacutical companies have an incredible lobby in Congress and an incredible amount of power to hide things from the public, there are some doctors who are willing to inform their patients where there are questionable meds and treatments lurking. Public awareness is always a problem.

Keep up the good fight. I hope that research and proof will happen in record time to answer the question beyond a reasonable doubt.