GeezerSue

In my late stepfather's Alzheimer's support group meeting, we had a lady who TRIED to work...but whose husband kept setting the microwave for 60:00 minutes to make a cup of instant coffee. But your mess sounds WAY bigger.

YOU KNOW ME, CARLENE, I'D RATHER BITE MY TONGUE THAN OFFEND ANYONE! :heh: My mom was in a senior community for a dozen years or so before she moved to assisted living. I even found neighbors whose kids (in their 50's and 60's) would come lock the parents (in their late 70's and up) in their apartments at night so they wouldn't wander...but leave them alone. So if the building went up in flames, Mom or Dad was toast. And, given the parents' cognitive situations, they were the most likely people in the building to burn the place down. Sad to say, every one of those apartments was 100% paid for (no mortgages allowed) and could have been sold to help pay for assisted living, at least for a few years. But, no...until I reported them, they were just locking Mom in at night so she wouldn't wander and bother the neighbors...and so that their inheritance would be intact. How wrong is it to hope that if they DO inherit money under these circumstances, they use it to buy something they choke on or that crashes while they're in it, huh? I have my faults...plenty of them...but not getting my mom appropriate care so that I can profit...that just is NOT one of them.

I haven't read all the responses (so I don't know whose toes I'm stepping on), but I think people who play that game to inherit the money are greedy and that their parents did a piss poor job of raising ethical people...so I guess they--in some karmic way--may deserve those Medicaid facilities. But I wouldn't put MY mom in one to make a buck. Mom has a monthly income of about $1700 and is currently a resident of an assisted living facility the bill for which is $3425 per month and will be going up because she is going to need MORE ongoing care. She has a Long Term Care Policy that will--for a short time--pay a little over half the cost, leaving Mom a couple of hundred a month for medication and Depends and haircuts. For as long as Mother is a candidate for a nice assisted living facility that doesn't even have a place for those with advanced cognitive problems or bad medical problems...my sister and I and our husbands will do our damnedest to keep her OUT of a Medicaid-accepting nursing home. We eventually had to place her husband in one of those and they are just nasty...even the best ones are nasty. Now, I WILL confess to the following...when Mom's husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's--over twenty years ago and there were no programs for spouses in that situation--I found an attorney and a court and arranged a legal separation between Mom and her husband. That meant he had court ordered spousal support AND that her house--which he had never paid for--was definitely HER HOUSE. When he eventully needed a nasty old nursing home...we finally found him a very small place ( < 25 beds) out in the woods. His income was figured at his gross, less any court-ordered payments (which we kept at about 50% of the income), and his $25/month allowance. In those days, had we not done that, HER house would have been sold to pay for HIS nursing home care and SHE would have been indigent for all this time. And, now, she'd be on the dole. So, based on my experience, when a spouse "sets aside" enough money for his or her own basic needs, that's one thing. But when kids deprive their parents of nice, upscale assisted living facilities such as the one my mom is in , or even one of the really, really nice expensive ones...so that they can have a larger inheritance...well, they are pigs and I hope that what goes around comes around. They are abusing taxpayers AND their parents to make a buck...how despicable.

Do they really need help? As opposed to how THIS congress has helped the average American family? "I earned capital in this campaign, political capital," President Bush said two days after winning re-election with 51% of the vote, "and now I intend to spend it." We don't want to get THESE results mixed up with the big Dubya victory. If you're a pro-choice woman, McCaine isn't moderate...if you are NOT pro-choice, you still might have noticed that he has been posturing and positioning himself to try to attain your vote...in other words, he's selling out in the HOPE that you'll think he's moderate. But he's really very far right. ]If jokes are a true indicator of anything, then what does THIS say? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1U7qgudyww&mode=related&search=]YouTube - Bush Missing WMD's Joke[/ame] You are right in that I think MOST voters want them to stop acting like whores, but I don't see how your approach is giving the Democrats even a chance to prove themselves wrong...it seems like you've already convicted them. So far, the Republicans own Abramoff and Ney and DeLay and Menendez and Foley and Hastert and Pombo and had the close ties to energy scandals and Enron and the donut-hole in Medicare Prescriptions for your parents or grandparents. All the democrats had recently was a horny president. speaking of horny...we have a Republican governor-elect (Nevada) who may have himself in a bit of a bind, except when the Congressional Republicans get horny they tend to bring assault into the picture. Give then a CHANCE to disgrace themselves...or at least to shoot themselves in the foot....before you condemn them.

Thanks, but history has shown that it's best not to encourage the rowdy broads...

I didn't say that I wouldn't vote for a woman or a candidate of color...I'm saying that the odds of a successful run are not that great. (And, I'm a woman and kinda brown myself, so let's not go there.) I actually think that an Edwards-Obama ticket would work better than any ticket with a Hillary on it. Then, JMO...O, how I HOPE THAT SCHOOL YOU'RE ATTENDING TEACHES HISTORY!!! Kerry--whom you probably hate--is the one who went to war. Dubya was hiding out at home, getting drunk and doing crack and being the REAL protected rich kid. More recently, Dubya sent MORE poor kids to war and then didn't listen to the generals. Clinton did not run out in the middle of the night and start being the president of some other country behind my back. So, he didn't cheat on me. Did he cheat on you or do you just find oral sex between two consenting adults objectionable? I ask because, lately, it has become public that MANY Republican representatives are engaging in far more exotic sexual/domestic behavior and some attempting to do so with people below the age of consent. (Or pay them for NOT telling about the beatings.) I think your numbers for the 9/11 terrorist plane attacks are inflated...not that one death isn't as bad as 5,000...I just don't think there were 5,000 killed. Now, I don't know how it worked when YOU enlisted in the military, but when I did, I did so because I wanted to participate in defending our country. (And I wanted my GI Bill.) I would not have been very happy about slaughtering tens of thousand of innocent people who did NOTHING to us just to get our hands on more oil. THAT's what Bush ordered. I'd have probably done what I needed to do to get out. BTW, over 33% of our returning combat veterans who use VA care need psych care. Killing innocent people does that to folks. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you need to get in touch with some facts. Here are a few quotes regarding the guy that Bush declared he'd keep until the end...until the election: "We went to war with a flawed plan that didn't account for the hard work to build the peace after we took down the regime. We also served under a secretary of defense who didn't understand leadership, who was abusive, who was arrogant, who didn't build a strong team."--Retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste. "I really believe that we need a new secretary of defense because Secretary Rumsfeld carries way too much baggage with him...I think we need senior military leaders who understand the principals of war and apply them ruthlessly, and when the time comes, they need to call it like it is." Retired Army Maj. Gen. Charles Swannick. "In the lead-up to the Iraq war and its later conduct, I saw, at a minimum, true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility; at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption." Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni There are more, but these are a start. And how about Powell? HE finally admitted that Bush fired him. So, Bush...the drunken golden boy of the Alabama Air National Guard is your HERO and these guys (and more) who spent their lives and careers in the military are the bad guys? Afghanistan...no problem...go get the fuckers. Iraq...it was a weenie waving show for his Daddy's benefit. "Hey, Daddy...YOU didn't get him, but I did...ha, ha, ha. My pee-pee's bigger, my pee-pee's bigger. Now can I have Mommy?" What about those of us who DON'T want to go to church? Are we still allowed to be here--or like the Taliban dictate--are we required to worship Bush's God? Yes, indeed "Goooo Bush." Gooooo as far away as fucking possible!! And...since it's Veteran's Day...you're welcome for my service. Sue Thanks for the reminder...I'm going to go download "Not Ready to Make Nice."

If I hadn't retired, we'd be sitting right next to you. Which, come to think of it, is one reaon I DID retire...well, that and the extra 140 pounds or so I was carrying which made it difficult to breathe. But, I guess I don't mind so much (except when they're spending it on wars) because the most basic basics are not provided to the low income folks on a graduated basis and, therefore, take a much bigger percentage of the income of a very low income person. On another board I'm on there is a voluntary contribution suggested. For some people, $25 is is 20% of a week's income and a big part of their grocery budget. For others, it's about 20-30 minutes' pay or less. In my case--and more so in yours, I'm sure--when you can get to the post office, buying a roll of stamps does not put a dent in your budget. To others, you can only buy a few stamps at a time. Well...that...and my European friends pay a far higher percentage that we do...but they get good stuff!!!

My sister and her husband only care about what they "get back." Duh...

Thanks for the kind wishes re DH's buddy. He (DH), big tough former infantryman, made it all the way home before he fell apart. About the Neocons...they don't want just to dominate other countries, they want to dominate us, too. They will insist that each one of us behaves in a manner that is in accordance with THEIR beliefs...because they possess the only true, correct set of beliefs in the universe.

What Carlene said, AND...that freakin' liberal Kerry actually went to war while Dubya hid out in a safe place daddy found for him. I'm a liberal...do you have any doubt that I'd be willing to kick ass if someone got invaded MY space? thing is, being that I actually showed up for military duty and worked in a branch of Military Intelligence, I'd try to bomb the shit out of the right country. A major differnece from how the moron in chief did it. And now...I'm off to console my husband. His good friend had to leave work early today when the news arrived that his son was just killed in Iraq. National Guard...yup...that's what HE signed up for.

As much as I'm sure that Hillary could do a fine job, I'm convinced that the rabid Hillary-haters would do A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G to keep that from happening. AND, Barak is still relatively inexperienced. My mom lives in a senior development that has thousands of older people living there. They smile. They go to church on Sunday. And most of them would NEVER vote for a woman or a black man for president. They still engage in OLD-THINK...and they still vote. Even their condo boards are dominated by male presidents and female secretaries. These people, added to the rabid anti-Hillary folks, I'm thinking it's a loss for a while longer. My mom's neighbors were mostly born in the first quarter of the last century...they know what they know and they aren't going around looking for more stuff to know. What's John Edwards doing?

I had a revision to the Duodenal Switch (DS) and the band was removed at that time. I've lost about 76% of my excess weight from my all-time high and 72% from the date of surgery. There are many band surgeons who have limited experience placing the band and even less experience removing one. In my case, my closest "Center of Expertise" band surgeon was just about to do his FIRST band removal (uh...no, thanks, I'll go elsewhere) and my DS surgeon had done enough that he had a drawer with a bunch of removed bands sitting there. My surgery--band out and DS--was done open and took less than two hours.

And, assuming you are correct, why do you suppose it's true? Because we old folks were never young? Because we forgot that we were much smarter when we were younger? Or because, with a few years under our belts, we realize that maybe we weren't so smart back when we thought we knew everything. This is not to say that young people know nothing; they know a lot! But most young adults are really do have little or no life experience, many are still tax deductions for their parents, most have never been responsible for paying for their own dentist office visits let alone for the life of another human being...in other words, they are pretty much "apprentice grown ups." That doesn't mean that young folks shouldn't have opinions...just that they should realize that those opinions were formed based on very limited experience...and, as such, those opinions should be subject to change upon receipt of more life experience.

Oh, my! Are my comments veiled at all? They weren't supposed to be! Mousecrazy...doesn't "My parents went from conservative to liberal. I went from holding lighters up and yelling "Dude" at Rolling Stones concerts to holding American flags up and cheering for President Bush," pretty much demonstrate my point that what one believes at 20 is often NOT what one believes with a little more maturity? Again, I have no trouble with people cheering for their president...as long as they know who he is and what he has done. But I hope today's election results will show that more and more people have gotten past the flag-waving stage and moved on to asking intelligent questions and demanding honest answers. I am a veteran who is more than a little upset that people are cheering for the guy who sent troops into harm's way on false pretenses and then wants to renege on VA benefits. There are 104,000 VERY damaged veterans home already...and Bush wants to court people's votes by promising lower taxes. You cannot lower taxes AND take care of these very damaged young bodies and minds...and step in where they can no longer go, to care for themselves and their families. ANYONE who would take away from these people is a shit-suckin' weasel...on a good day....I don't care what his title is or who voted for him.

Also, dumping syndrome isn't just about being on the toilet, and it's not for days at a time. From Wikipedia: Symptoms of early dumping include nausea, vomiting, bloating, cramping, diarrhea, dizziness and fatigue. "Late" dumping happens 1 to 3 hours after eating. Symptoms of late dumping include weakness, sweating, and dizziness. Many people have both types. My RnY friends get the shakes and the sweats, think they're going to collapse and all that and then, in about 20 minutes or so, they are better. DS'ers don't dump. DO find out if the sugar-free food you're eating contains stuff that ends in "-ol" THAT would be your likely culprit.

Yeah, but, (playing devil's advocate)...someone who was just able to register (because of age or length of time as a resident) on Monday the 6th, but was going to be in surgery or out of town today on the 7th, would not be eligible for an absentee ballot...even though he or she was alive and eligible on election day. Statistically, it's probably a wash. But since I'm married to a guy whose birthday is November 5th, it hits a little close to home... We absentee voters have to deal with those things.

Jodie, DO print this stuff out and put a copy in your baby book. It will give you many good laughs as you grow and (hopefully) change as you learn about the REAL world and (hopefully) learn how little of your life's journey is REALLY self-financed and how much you are REALLY helping others. A quick example...I am a service-connected, disabled veteran of the VietNam Era. My friend was outraged that HER tax dollar was paying me $400/month for four years AND two years of private school tuition, way back when. Grand Total, under $30,000. Then I went to work. The first year that BOTH my husband and I were working full time our FEDERAL tax bite was right around $35,000. And I worked for many years....but let's just say ten years. So I "cost" the government $30,000 and the government PROBABLY got back (the difference between what we'd have paid as a one-income family and what we paid as a two-income family) about $200,000, maybe more. Want to try the math one more time? Also, I think we might want to consider what groups or classes of people we single out as being less than stellar examples of citizens. Those who really believe that they have nothing are those who often look for some immutable characteristic/trait/behavior of the people we want to disparage and use it to try to make a point...fortunately, it's usually only others who have as little buy into it. As in, "Well, my husband may be a ___, but at least he's not a ____." My late MIL one told a relative to pick me and my kid up at the airport. When asked how to recongize us, MIL said, "Just look for the fat Mexican woman with the real pretty girl." In my MIL's mind, as long as she and her daughter were neither fat nor Mexican (I'm half), they were "better" than I was. MIL told of this exchange a few times, laughing each time. Finally, the fourth time she told it (in front of an audience) I responded, "Well, I guess you could have told them to look for the only woman in your family who is a college graduate, but that might not have worked as well..." She stopped. Probably because while her daughter was thin and white...she was a high school dropout. The world is a fascinating place, Jodie. One way we know that children are growing and learning is that they reject their parents' values and adopt their own values, for their own reasons. (They may end up being similar, but they are seldom identical.) Be prepared to change as you sally forth. Sue :::Looking in mirror, admiring self for having passed (and tutored) philosopy 101 a hundred years ago, for having voted (for change) by absentee ballot, for NOT being at all fond of Texas politics or politicians--except for the "Molly Ivins subject matter" potential they provide, and most epecially for being several DECADES beyond my teen years and being about 70% grey-haired to prove it::: :::

Many US citizens do not realize that they may have dual citizenship via birthright. My grandfather came here from Italy in 1908. He got married and had a bunch of kids and--because of the rumors that were flying around about a war in Europe--he filed for his US citizenship around 1932. He had one more child after that. All of us who were born to his sons--and those of us who were born to his daughters after 1948 (when Italian woman first had rights of citizenship on their own)--are, according to Italian law--Italian citizens. That's because our parents were born to an Italian citizen, which made THEM Italian citizens, which means WE were born to Italian citizens which makes US Italian citizens. (I'm pretty sure the Irish work that way, too.) But we were all born here, which makes us US citizens. Since the dual citizenship was automatically granted by both countries at birth (even if we didn't know about it), there is no renouncing of anything involved. But, many US citizens have become Canadian citizens and have not had to renounce anything. Some guy has had a website about it for years now. I dont know if this is the one I read years ago, but it covers the topic re Canada: http://www.cis.org/articles/cantigny/carens.html

Whenever anyone has anything negative to say about Bush, we have to hear about Clinton's blow jobs. So, I'd rather stay on target on NOT discuss Clinton's blow jobs and Kerry's joke delivery and Dubya's cocaine use and "interesting" military service and arrests and drunken episodes and all that. We can get to the drug addict and the falafel-guy later. But this is how Molly Ivins suggested we stay on target re the election: May I remind you what this election is about? Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, unprecedented presidential powers, unmatched incompetence, unparalleled corruption, unwarranted eavesdropping, Katrina, Enron, Halliburton, global warming, Cheney's secret energy task force, record oil company profits, $3 gasoline, FEMA, the Supreme Court, Diebold, Florida in 2000, Ohio in 2004, Terri Schiavo, stem cell research, golden parachutes, shrunken pensions, unavailable and expensive health care, habeas corpus, no weapons of mass destruction, sacrificed soldiers and Iraqi civilians, wasted billions, Taliban resurgence, expiration of the assault weapons ban, North Korea, Iran, intelligent design, swift boat hit squads, and on and on. This election is about that, but much more -- it's about honor, dignity and comity in this country. It's about the Constitution, which gives us this great nation. Bush ran on a pledge of "restoring honor and integrity" to the White House. Instead, he brought us Tom DeLay, Roy Blunt, Katherine Harris, John Doolittle, Jerry Lewis, Richard Pombo, Mark Foley, Dennis Hastert, David Safavian, Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed, Karl Rove and an illegal and immoral war in Iraq. People, it's up to you.

Bush's handlers could get a puppet elected. Oh! Wait!! They did. And "make what he makes?" You mean his great business ventures, or the perqs he gets for those who court him for his power? The only thing Dubya has made lately is a lot of military widows. And the REAL problem? Many of his most vocal supporters--those from the middle class and middle America--don't even understand what a reaming they're getting. It's sad.

Chris, I'm sorry about your loss. That said, evil people not only can and do pretend to be kind...they can even actually BE kind when it suits their purposes. The fact that Hitler was very kind and loving to animals does not negate his evil nature. And the fact that Bush can (let's give him the benefit of the doubt) be sincerely concerned about the welfare of a sick child, does not make him smart or wise or good. I wonder how many other really sick children won't even get a chance at that hospital bed because of Dubya's policies and politics.

I voted for Nixon. Twice! But no matter who I vote for for Governor, I vote the opposite party for Lt. Governor. If nothing else, it keep the Governor in the state. Back in the days of Governor Jerry Brown, Lt. Governor Mike Curb appointed judges when Brown went out of state. It was kind of funny...

"Puritan Republicans or "prurient Republicans?" The words are close...

I forgot to mention...re the Clinton-got-a-blow-job thing... It strikes me as odd that MOST of the Democrats involved in sex scandals were involved in heterosexual dalliances with willing adult partners. The last Rebulican I can remember who was in THAT sad situation was Wilbur Mills with his stripper friend Fanne Foxe...

While we are often influenced by what we find around us...one way or the other...overdosing on a name or issue might not makes us do more than "dig in" to our previously held position. For example, I believe that although GadgetLady and I come to different conclusions about most things political, we are exposed to the same stuff because we live in the same county...so familiarity with a name sometimes may not mean anything other than familiarity. If it did, then I'd be conservative. This county is VERY "conservative." Well, that's the word they like to use. This county ALSO houses no less than eleven identified Hate Groups. That's the word they DON'T like to use. http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp?S=CA&m=4 My husband and I WERE Republicans. But, when the party became infested by the right wingnuts in the 1980's, we left. Just this year, he traded in his American Legion membership (I never joined because I didn't go into the Army to serve "God and Country,"--the AL's motto--just country...so it never appealed to me) and jointed the ACLU instead. One can only hope that things will eventually improve in this cesspool of politely disguised hatred. Meanwhile, I don't think Bush is technically the worst president...yet. That honor currently goes to Buchanan who did nothing to stop OUR Civil War right here at home. Bush has only gotten us involved in the Iraqi Civil War that Bush says isn't happening. Pierce wasn't great...Harrison and Andrew Jackson were ineffective...but as far as just BAD...Buchanan is right up there and Dubya is closing the gap at breakneck speed. BTW, the REASON congress voted to give Dubya the power to engage in military intervention is because he said he needed that power as a negotiating tool in talks at the UN in order to keep the peace. Stupid Congress...they believed him...even though they knew he had a lot of trouble telling the truth!!! I can only guess that, under the circumstances, they wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Here's a quote on that topic: Q Mr. President, how important is it that that resolution give you an authorization of the use of force? THE PRESIDENT: That will be part of the resolution, the authorization to use force. If you want to keep the peace, you've got to have the authorization to use force. But it's -- this will be -- this is a chance for Congress to indicate support. It's a chance for Congress to say, we support the administration's ability to keep the peace. That's what this is all about. Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/09/20020919-1.html He's ONE of the worst presidents ever, for sure. And I've already voted (absentee) to help get rid of his supporters. It's kind of a lost cause in this county, so we have also contributed to two hot campaigns...one in Colorado and one in Indiana. Is it Tuesday yet?