Carlene

Right now, my granddaughter only likes bad squirrels. I'm keeping her locked up until she learns to appreciate nerdy squirrels.

I knew there was a good reason I won't let my granddaughter leave the house when a boy is driving!

I have been writing research papers for a daughter-in-law who is trying to complete her degree in special ed. So far, I have 3 A's. Much less stressful than when I wrote my own papers, back in the stone ages. At the time, I was trying to juggle 12 hours of college, a husband, a job, and 4 kids. I have received numerous offers of compensation from the DIL's friends if I would write their papers, too. But I figure I have to preserve some semblance of integrity.

You don't think calling a group of black women "nappy-headed hos" is intended to degrade them? How would you feel about someone who went on national television and called your mother a whore?

The big difference, as I see it, is that rappers are not speaking TO a particular group of individuals; Imus was. I don't like it when hip-hop artists denigrate women in general. I wish women would band together and boycot that garbage. But I would like it even less if Snoop Dog put out a CD in which he called me, personally, a "ho".

I'm not sure I understand your post. No one is spying on Mr P. He calls US (or DH, at least) and issues updates. He e-mailed ME photos of himself and his girlfriend, months before his wife died. If he even TRIED to keep it a little bit discreet, I would have more respect for him. He doesn't. He flaunts it. And please remember....his late wife was a friend of mine.

No....priceless.

He is......a million or two, at least.

My son-in-law is an abusive, self-centered, worthless piece of poo. They have 3 children (actually, they have 2, because I'm raising the oldest one) that they don't take care of properly. I wish my daughter was a Lesbian.

I wouldn't bet on it.

The saga of Mr P.... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/moral-dilemma-t24901.html?highlight=moral+dilema

Because the "victims" of hip hop lyrics (young women) do not take offense, stand up, and demand a blanket apology from the industry. For the life of me, I can't understand WHY, but they evidently don't feel denigrated by music (and I use the term loosely here) that refers to them as "hos" and "bitches". The same thing goes for their "homies". You don't have to put up with that shit, girls. Unless you demand respect, you won't be respected. (And yes, it DOES mean "something". It means they can call you a whore to your face and get away with it, and that is so not right.)

When I first heard about the Imus remark - incredibly stupid, by the way - I knew he was going to try and pass it off as a "joke", and that makes me almost angrier than the original slur. People open their mouths, spew out garbage, and then when they get called on it, they claim the prerogative of humor. Like an insult doesn't count, as long as someone, somewhere, finds it humorous. Imus' remark wasn't funny. Anne Colter wasn't funny when she called John Edwards a fag. Unless the people on the receiving end of these nasty public insults find them amusing, they aren't funny - ever. "I was just joking" is NOT an excuse. It's not even a reasonable explanation. Everyone is responsible for what comes out of their mouths (or fingers, in the case of journalists and bloggers and message board members). And when an apology is offered up with the joke card attached, it's only half an apology, as far as I'm concerned. And even when it's sincere, "sorry" doesn't help much when you're the one who has been publicly humiliated.

Very good news, Alexandra. I hope you get your new band soon, but not before you get to enjoy a couple of your old favorites....but just a couple.

BOH.... I had two herniated disks, plus stenosis (the "narrowing" you mentioned). It was very painful and got steadily worse over a period of several years. Eventually there was just nothing left where the disks had been. I tried steroids, anti-inflammatory drugs, and pain killers. I did physical therapy and three series of facet injections (9 injections total). I finally consented to back surgery. I am now fused from L4 to S1. Plus he did a bi-lateral laminectomy to relieve the stenosis. It's a long and painful recuperation, but at the end of the day, I am glad I had it done. I had unrelenting pain and am now virtually pain free. Find yourself the best neurosurgeon in your area and pay him a visit.

Could you possibly be any more offensive? There is no appropriate place on LBT for name-calling. Especially something as offensive as "baby killers". I am a Liberal, and a Catholic. Obviously I am opposed to abortion. That's why I would not have one. May I suggest that you read the Bible, too. Particularly the verse that says, "Let him among you who is without sin cast the first stone." And when you have achieved a state of sinlessness, then you may come back here and tell other people how wicked they are. In the meantime, you should be ashamed of yourself. God is not hateful. God is love.

Denise... You post anything you like. You are just as entitled to share your opinion as the rest of us. I bought some great self-hypnosis tapes years ago and they were not expensive. I got them at the health food store. I became so addicted to the guy's voice, I could not go to sleep without a tape player and headphones available!

Miracle fruit makes everything taste sweet The Wall Street Journal ARLINGTON, Va.At a party here one recent Friday, Jacob Grier stood on a chair, pulled out a plastic bag full of small berries, and invited everyone to eat one apiece. "Make sure it coats your tongue," he said. Grier's guests were about to go under the influence of miracle fruit, a slightly tart West African berry with a strange property: For about an hour after you eat it, everything sour tastes sweet. Within minutes of consuming the berries, guests were devouring lime wedges as if they were candy. Straight lemon juice went down like lemonade, and goat cheese tasted as if it were "covered in powdered sugar," said one astonished partygoer. A rich stout beer seemed "like a milkshake," said another. After languishing in obscurity since the 1970s, miracle fruit, or Synsepalum dulcificum, is enjoying a small renaissance. In-the-know food lovers from Hawaii to Finland are seeking out the berry as a culinary curiosity. Growers like Curtis Mozie of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., are racing to keep up with the recent demand. The 63-year-old retired postman has cultivated the slow-growing shrub for a decade, and now says he has hundreds of them at a nursery near his home. Most of the small number of U.S. growers sell cuttings or seeds for chefs or other aficionados to grow their own plants, rather than shipping the highly perishable berries. After a food lovers' blog called EatFoo, to which Grier contributes, began spreading word in February about Mozie's product, he raised his prices to $1.80 from $1 per fruit. He ships them overnight, because the red berry -- about the size of a grape with a large pit -- turns brown and unappetizing within a day or so after it's picked. Miracle discovery Scientists say a Protein in the fruit works by binding to taste buds and altering the tongue's so-called sweet receptors to activate when sour foods are eaten. In 1852, a British surgeon described the fruit in a pharmaceutical journal as a "miraculous" berry. In the early 20th century, a renowned botanist for the Agriculture Department, David Fairchild, was the first person to bring miracle fruit from Africa to the U.S., says Linda Bartoshuk, a professor at the Center for Smell and Taste at the University of Florida. Lloyd Beidler, a biology professor at Florida State University, and a colleague isolated the active protein in the berry in 1968, which Dutch researchers doing similar work dubbed "miraculin." Around the same time, Bartoshuk was doing research on the berry for the U.S. Army, which never went as far as adding it to rations. Several miracle-fruit growers in Florida say cancer patients occasionally seek out the fruit because it reportedly alleviates a metallic taste in the mouth that is one side effect of chemotherapy. There is no scientific research supporting the claim. A strange experience Miracle fruit remains in a kind of regulatory limbo in the U.S. It's perfectly fine to grow and sell it, because the Food and Drug Administration doesn't require prior approval to sell fresh fruits, though it can intercede if it suspects problems. At the Arlington party hosted by Grier, a barista at a Georgetown bakery and coffeehouse, guests milled around a table covered with a wide assortment of tart and sour foods -- lemons, limes, grapefruits, pomelos, rhubarb, dill pickles, cheeses and sour candy. "Rhubarb is the big winner, it's like a sugar stick," said Lalitha Chandrasekhar, a 22-year-old researcher at the National Institutes of Health. Paul Sherman, 27, who works at a nonprofit group that studies campaign finance, followed his miracle fruit with strawberries and found them "like strawberry-flavored candy ... almost too sweet." It was, he concluded, "the strangest gustatory experience I have ever had in my life." MIRACLE FRUIT FACTS Scientists say a protein in the fruit works by binding to taste buds and altering the tongue's so-called sweet receptors to activate when sour foods are eaten. In the early 20th century, a renowned botanist for the Agriculture Department, David Fairchild, was the first person to bring miracle fruit from Africa to the U.S., says Linda Bartoshuk, a professor at the Center for Smell and Taste at the University of Florida. Lloyd Beidler, a biology professor at Florida State University, and a colleague isolated the active protein in the berry in 1968, which Dutch researchers doing similar work dubbed "miraculin." It's perfectly fine to grow and sell miracle fruit because the Food and Drug Administration doesn't require prior approval to sell fresh fruits, though it can intercede if it suspects problems. SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal

My goal was actually to lose 110 pounds, but I've pretty much given up on that. My issue is keeping it off, too. Fat people are also very smart. We learn to eat around the band. I can eat Cheetos. I have to not buy them, or I will eat a whole bag in about two days.

I'm the mom, so Easter will be at my house and I will be cooking it. Everyone else goes to church on Easter Sunday, but DH and I go to vigil Mass on Saturday, so I win the cooking thing by default. Baked ham macaroni and cheese Creamed corn Mashed potatoes Fruit salad Deviled eggs Homemade yeast rolls Cupcakes (also homemade) Homemade cheesecake I can't eat most of that stuff, but I truly don't care. If I could, I would eat the bread. I can't, however. So I'll settle for a tiny bit of ham, a spoon of potatoes, and the "guts" out of a couple of deviled eggs. And maybe a small piece of cheesecake, minus the crust.

Seems pretty liberal to me already. Do we really need LESS gun legislation than this? GUN LAWS FOR TEXAS Handgun ownership: unrestricted, no permit or license required Rifle and Shotgun ownership: unrestricted, no permit or license required Semi-automatic "assault weapon" ownership: unrestricted, no permit or license required Machine Gun Ownership: no state restrictions, compliance with federal law only Concealed carry: licenses granted on a "shall issue" basis; reciprocity available for nonresidents with carry permits from certain other states Vehicle carry and transportation: unlicensed individuals and non-residents may not carry handguns on or about their persons while in a vehicle. Loaded rifles and shotguns may be carried in plain view or in a case

I'll play your silly game, Jack. What sporting use is there for a machine gun? And other than killing snakes, which is what my dad used his sawed-off shotgun for many years and lots of legislation ago, when would one be a better choice of weapon than a traditional shotgun?

Apples and oranges. How about this....in Great Britain, where private ownership of guns is forbidden, the crime rate is no higher than in the USA. So the when-guns-are-outlawed-only-outlaws-will-have-guns argument has been disproved, hasn't it?

Exactly! Where I live, it's easier to buy a gun than it is to get permission to add onto your house.

You can buy a hose with a spray end that slips over the bathtub faucet. This will turn your tub into a shower, instantly. I use one to bathe my dogs. You get them from the medical supply pharmacy.