Carlene

Hey, I'm a native Texan. We have a right to carry law. Need I say more?

The Conservatives think Arnold is sleeping with the enemy. Oh, wait....he IS sleeping with the enemy. LOL...

And do you care, at all, that 80% of the people receiving benefits from so-called welfare programs, including state and federal funded medical plans, are children?

I feel your cold, Stephanee. I'm in Texas, so this white stuff is pretty alien to me, too. No newspaper as of 9:30 AM....no school, of course. Cheyenne just asked me if we could "go pick up Whitney". Has she lost her mind? If the roads were that good, there would be school. There was a big black bird frozen to my skylight this morning. YUK! I assume it's dead. I told Bob that after the weather clears up, he has to get a ladder and remove said bird from my skylight. I don't want to be taking a bath and look up and see a big, slowly decaying bird as the weather gets warmer and warmer. He said the buzzards would take care of it. Not gonna wait for the buzzards. He thinks the weather has made me cranky. I think the idea of a buzzard smörgåsbord on my (visible) roof did the trick, never mind the weather!

Actually, everything I've read about the Clintons personal life says that she is truly, deeply in love with Bill. I know that sounds contrary to Hillary's tough demeanor, but that's what everyone who knows them well has to say - even the people who worked for them and didn't especially have a warm, fuzzy spot for Hillary. I just finished reading Bill and Hillary - The Marriage. It was very enlightening - not particularly "pro Clinton" at all.

Men either complain less about hair loss, or they just don't experience it as often as women. Could be because estrogen is stored in fat cells and when women lose the fat, we lose our stockpile of estrogen.

By golly, I have to admit that I had never given this any consideration, but did you know that if a man wants to take his wife's last name when they marry, it's no easy thing (in most states)? When I got married, I just took my marriage license to the DMV and they changed the last name on my DL. I also had to send a certified copy of the license to Social Security. Everything else was easy.....the credit cards, bank accounts, etc. But a California man and woman tried, using those steps, to change HIS last name to HERS and guess what? It was a big no-go. So they called up the ACLU, who, of course, promptly filed suit against the state of California. A 2004 Harvard University study found that the number of college-educated women who kept their surnames upon marriage rose from about 3 percent in 1975 to nearly 20 percent in 2001. What about the LBT girls....did you keep your last name, or take your husband's?

Good for you, Poodles. To thine own self be true.

When my middle son was very small (like 4 years old), he loved to sing. Delta Dawn was one of his favorites, so I heard it a LOT, too. He also loved Helen Reddy's I Am Woman. But he was FOUR, so he didn't always hear all the words the same way the rest of us did. Instead of "I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman", Patrick insisted on singing, "I am strong, I am invisible, I am a laaaaaady."

Sweetheart, that's what makes it a DEBATE. You are NEVER going to log on and find a post that says, "OMG, Jodie....you are so right and I was WRONG" because there is no "right" and "wrong" to a political argument - just different points of view. So don't take it personally if you can't drag us left-wing Liberals over to the right. The fact that we disagree is NOT a reflection of the way we feel about you, or an indication of how intelligent we think you are.

Jodie....it was NOT an insult. He meant that he would trade some of his "experience" for your tender age. Meaning he would rather be young (like you) than old and "wise". TOM envies you your youth, as do the rest of us, I'm sure.

My middle son and I used to play a game....what if this person married that one. He said if his sister (Chris, for short) married a boy in the neighborhood named Jason Cross, her name would be Chris Cross. And if she married Jeff Case, they could have a son and name him Justin Case. We came up with such combinations as Perry Winkle, Roy Rogers, and Paula Walla. But nothing beats a young woman I know who married Mark Brooks. Her name, believe it or not, is Brooke Brooks.

Wheetsin, you are a good wife.

Texas has the same mindset. As one comedian said, while other states are doing away with the death penalty, Texas has put in an express lane.

I would vote for Hillary TWICE, if I could. My husband is having a hard time with this. He doesn't think a woman or a black man (or woman) can win. So that's his justification for not voting for Hillary. I think he's a sexist pig, personally....LOL.

It is taking more than a month right now, as people who never felt like they needed a passport run to apply. Give yourself plenty of time and apply early. You can download the application, fill it out, and print it. Then take it to the post office (some, not all). You also need 2 passport pictures, your birth certificate, and a photo ID. Cost is now $97.00

Jodie... I know you think we are picking on you because you're young, but we aren't. These discussions aren't personal attacks (or at least they shouldn't be). And chances are, people firmly entrenched in the left are NOT going to see your side - ever. Just as you aren't going to see theirs. It's not about winning souls (or arguments). It's about exchanging facts, opinions, ideas, etc. I was on the debate team in college. I can argue either side of any issue, at the drop of a hat. I don't know if that's an advantage or a disadvantage here, but I suspect it's what drives me to attack sources and write long, laborious posts in support of my position....LOL. If you don't win all the political arguments, it doesn't mean you don't know what you are talking about. You know that, and we know it, too. A debate is a lot like politics....if you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.

Just so we are clear on whose team everyone is on.... The Wall Street Journal is a highly respected source of FINANCIAL information. It’s editorial policies, however, are about as far to the right as one can get. “On our editorial page, we make no pretense of walking down the middle of the road. Our comments and interpretations are made from a definite point of view….People will say we are conservative or even reactionary. We are not much interested in labels but if we were to choose one, we would say we are radical.” (William H. Grimes, 1951) Mr. Grimes was with the Wall Street Journal for 38 years. He died in 1972. His legacy continues to this day. And, in the interest of full disclosure, I would like to add that my oldest son works for Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Now as for the Heritage Foundation... It is the best-known and most influential right-wing think tank. The Heritage Foundation owes much of its success to savvy marketing and PR and the generous donations of right-wing benefactors, foundations and wealthy corporations. Heritage’s publications are distributed to many thousands of people, including Members of Congress, congressional aides and staff, journalists, and major donors. It takes credit for much of President Bush’s policy, both domestic and foreign, referring to Bush’s policies as “straight out of the Heritage play book.” Heritage supports faith-based initiatives, school vouchers, ban on abortion, overturning affirmative action programs. Former Heritage Foundation employees who have served in the Bush Administration Elaine Chao: Department of Labor Secretary; formerly a Heritage Distinguished Fellow Kay Coles James: Director of the Office of Personnel Management; formerly Heritage’s Citizenship Project director Angela Antonelli: Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; formerly Heritage’s director for Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies Mark Wilson: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor; formerly Heritage Foundation’s Research Fellow Alvin Felzenberg: a member of Rumsfeld’s “team” at the Department of Defense; formerly Heritage Foundation’s Visiting Fellow Gale Norton: Secretary of the Interior; Founder of the National Chair of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (heavily funded by Heritage Foundation). Other Employees and Board Members of Note Famous Heritage staffers include: Ed Meese (President Ronald Reagan’s Attorney General), William Bennett (Reagan’s Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities and Secretary of Education, and President Bush Sr.’s “drug czar”). Virginia Thomas (wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas) Heritage President Edward J. Feulner was a consultant for the Reagan administration, serving as chairman of the Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. High profile right wing Heritage board members have included: Richard Scaife, Joseph Coors, Holland “Holly” Coors, Steve Forbes, Jay Van Andel (co-founder and senior chairman for Amway Corporation), and Barb Van Andel-Gaby (the vice president of corporate affairs for Amway Corporation), among others. History and Background Prominent right-wing figure Paul Weyrich was Heritage’s first president. Heritage’s start was financially supported by co-founder Joseph Coors, of Colorado’s Coors Brewing Company. Right-wing financier Richard Scaife became a major funder of the Heritage Foundation after its first year, donating millions of dollars through the Sarah Scaife Foundation. Corporate sponsors of the organization have included: General Motors, Ford Motors, Proctor and Gamble, Chase Manhattan Bank, Dow Chemical, the Reader’s Digest Association, Mobil Oil, and Smith Kline Corporation. In 1980, Heritage published a 1,077-page book called Mandate for Leadership, which contained 2000 policy recommendations. It was presented to Attorney General Ed Meese a week after Reagan’s election. Meese was quoted as saying that “the Reagan Administration will rely heavily on the Heritage Foundation.” These recommendations included: rollback of minority programs, dramatic increase in military spending, and cutting taxes. In 1985 Heritage claimed that the Reagan administration’s policy reflected 60 to 65 percent of their policy measures. Heritage publishes a new edition every four years for subsequent administrations. If THAT information doesn't scare the pants off you, nothing will!

She's forty-one and her daddy still calls her "baby". All the folks around Brownsville say she's crazy, 'Cause she walks round town with a suitcase in her hand, Lookin' for a mysterious dark-haired man.

I bought a great pair of Chico brand gaucho pants Friday at the local re-sale shop (see photo below). I don't shop much at Chico's....I'm cheap and they aren't. So I forgot about their peculiar sizing. These pants are a Chico's size 3 and are too big. I want to sell them on e-bay but have no idea what "real" size catagory to put them in. So.....those of you who shop at Chico's, please give me an idea of what a size 3 might equate to. Edited to add....I will sell them to any LBT member for $7.00 (what I paid) plus postage.

Thanks! These are definitely stretchy. In fact, I have seldom seen fabric this stretchy. And I looked at them more carefully after posting and 16-18 sounds about right.

And did I hear you say, he was meetin' you here today, to take you to his mansion in the sky?

First of all, 6 oranges and 2 apples is not making good food choices. You should eat your Protein first, then have one piece of fruit, if you still have room. It took my husband about 8 cc to achieve good restriction. You need to be a bit more patient. And more diligent about eating protein first.

My husband was banded after me. He has lost 78 pounds, with the VG band.

I didn't give you an opinion, I gave you my personal experience, and that of my husband. And you were wrong when you stated that with the 4 cc band you only need 3 fills to achieve good restriction. That simply does not apply to everyone. Three fills, if you have the smaller band, would normally equal about 1.5 cc of saline. Good luck with your self-treatment plan. I truly do hope that it works out for you.