kagoscuba

"When a scientist’s interpretation of data does not match the clear meaning of the text in the Bible, we should never reinterpret the Bible. God knows just what He meant to say, and His understanding of science is infallible, whereas ours is fallible. So we should never think it necessary to modify His Word. " Please provide another website that is not as laughable as the one with the quote above. Like I have mentioned before, this post is as much the word of God as the Bible is. This post was written by a man, edited by a man, and it had data not included by choice...just like the Bible. Any person obtuse enough to think the Bible is infallible is either hopelessly ignorant or blindly devout to the point of self-delusion. This type of delusion is even creeping into our presidential election. Mike Huckabee has already stated he 100% does not believe in evolution and wishes for a country "united by Christ." I like Mike Huckabee for a lot of reasons, but for the two reasons I mentioned, he doesn't have a prayer (pardon the pun) of getting my vote.

Yep...that's sliming. I had a little bout of that last night. I'm still getting used to the second fill. I'm still on my mushies stage and went with something that worked well after the first fill: grits. So, I'm happily eating my grits, when I had that "oh crap, this is gonna hurt" feeling. For the next 15 minutes or so I got to feel why grits are called grits. I felt each and every individual grit try and make it's way down my stomach...not fun. A bellyfull of gurgling grits is not an optimum way to enjoy Monday Night Football. I felt worse than the Atlanta Falcons were playing.

"the Bible holds no controversy or ambiguity for me whatsoever" It does to me. For one thing it was written by men. Two, it was vetted by various groups and entire chapters were thrown out of it. Three, lots of things were lost in translation. For example, "Thou shalt not kill" was not in the "original" version. Translated from the original Hebrew, that commandment read, "Thou shalt not murder." There is a big difference in connotation there. For example, those who refuse to fight in war because it is killing (thus in conflict with the Bible) lose their argument, when faced with the true translation. Not to mention, there was lots of God-sanctioned war in the Bible.

I consider, "I prayed and got the result I wanted" to be mere coincidence. Chinese, of the "Boxer Rebellion" thought they were impervious to bullets. Many people ran out in front of bullets and came away unscathed by coincidence. Thus, this led to the idea that the idiotic belief had some merit. More people ran out in front of the bullets, and slowly but surely probability swung its uncompromising scythe over the believers. I had a friend die three months ago from cancer, at the age of 37. Lots of people prayed for him to live...I guess you could say the parayer was answered in the fact he will live forever in our memory, but who am I to argue semantics with the prayer answerer guy?

You might have lost enough weight from your second fill to where the restriction is gone. I learned on Friday that restriction is a combination of the band and your body's pressure from surrounding tissue that keeps the opening small. I found out because when I saw my band on the floro (just before 2nd fill) both me and my doctor saw the band was wide-open, compared to my first fill, and he said that was completely normal, since I've lost considerable weight since the 1st fill.

Got my second fill last Friday, and what a difference!! I can feel yogurt and shakes going down now. I was able to eat broccoli, chicken, chili, and pickles before, but I doubt I'll be able to next week, when I go back to solids. I foresee a lot of liquids in my diet for the next few months.

"I know there is a God by the many blessings he has given me in my life" Do you mean blessings he has given you personally or to all of us? The reason why I ask is from the point of view that there is a God, but we are essentially like a huge ant farm. He (or she, or it) put all of the ingredients together and watches what evolves. The old Christian idiom of "God helps those who helps themselves" is a pretty blatent way of saying "God doesn't have one iota of physical presence here on earth." Much as luck doesn't exist, physical interaction between God and humans does not exit. I would say every blessing you have received has been the direct result of either the hard work/love of someone who cares for you or your own for someone else. I use the God/luck example like this. If God interfered, you wouldn't need a parishoner in Colorado with a gun to kill an intruder at a church; he would do it for them. Buying a lottery ticket and winning the lottery is not lucky. Not buying a ticket and winning the lottery would be lucky. Like luck, many "blessings" are a matter of coincidental intersection, even if the coincidence is affected by a matter as small as getting out of bed that morning 5 minutes earlier than normal (could be the difference between buying the ticket and dying in a car accident on the way to buy the ticket).

I'm not an atheist, but my religion is quite contrary to the "norm" here in the US. I was raised a Methodist, went to church every Sunday, sang in the choir, went to vacation Bible School, and many other activities. These activities were always driven by my parents,and questioning religion was seen as "not having faith." well, once I was free of my parental bonds, I started questioning and reading more than the Bible. That's where I had the epiphany: "Religion is not the truth, God is." Once I read about the council of Nicene, the conditions surrounding the creation of the Apostle's Creed, and the bastardization of the Bible, I was enlightened. The Bible is no more the word of God than this post is. It has wonderful words and meaning, and the spirit of God may be in it; however, to believe,as some do, it is the infallible word of God is folly. That being said, I do follow many of the teachings of the Bible, and I do thank my parents for putting me on the path to enlightenment; I also thank God for giving me the intellect to question and use reason to walk the path.

Thanks everyone!! Boy, I thought I was filled before, but not really. I'm not PB'ing, but I feel even yogurt and pudding going down, unlike before. I'm going to have to be REALLY careful, when I go back to solids.

tell them to kiss your "smaller booty!"

Rice totally kicks my ass. I can eat Chinese food, like the chicken dishes, but not even one spoonfull of rice. I gave my wife a not too pleasant show two weeks ago because of rice. I won't even try it anymore. I haven't had any meat except chicken and a little turkey since I've been banded. Very little bread too...chewed the crap out of it before I swallowed it. I got my second fill today, so I see chicken being an issue soon, as it sometimes gave me that uncomfortbale feeling.

I guess it's up to the individual. I've lost almost 40 pounds since 9/27/07. Once you stabilize your weight loss, then yes, you should continually lose 1-2 pounds per week, to lose in a healthy way. If you were constantly monitored though, I imagine the doctor could get more aggressive.

No matter the religion; it is the internal indoctrination of the people that live there that is corrupt. If you've never read "Me Against My Brother, " try it as it is a very insightful look at the wars in Sudan, Somalia, and Rawanda. [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Me-Against-My-Brother-Somalia/dp/0415921988]Amazon.com: Me Against My Brother : At War in Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda: Books: Scott Peterson[/ame] "Me Against My Brother" is from an old Somali saying that goes like this: Me against my brother; my brother and I against our family; our family against the clan; our clan against the world. That is how they see the proper escalation of violence. Our problem in places like Somalia is not that we try to help; our problem is we don't understand they don't want our help and are not rational enough to understand why someone might want to try and help.

In case you guys haven't figured out the geography yet, Sudan is where Darfur is, so the next time you hear about the "poor starving people in Darfur" remember who you are being asked to save. They should be ignored, just like the a-holes in Somalia.

Hey, Kylie is a hottie!! If you like Midnight Oil, you've got to check out Blue Sky Mining...it's my favorite album from them: Blue Sky Mining - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As a victim of abuse, I have vowed enver to spank my children. The reason is I don't think I can accurately tell the line between discipline and abuse, in regards to physical discipline. However, I believe corporal punishment in schools should not only be allowed; it should be encouraged. I grew up part of my life in Texas, and I have seen and experienced first-hand how effective corporal punishment is. When it was used, another teacher had to be present and the parents had to be notified, thus greatly reducing the threat of an abusive teacher. The discipline problems were minimal there. I moved to a suburb of Atlanta (Marietta) in the middle of my 8th grade year. Corporal punishment was not allowed there, and the change in students' attitudes and behavior were shocking. They just didn't give a rat's a$$ what the teacher thought. The worst that could happen to them was on-campus isolation, suspension, or expulsion. None of those things mean much to a teenager. Now living in NJ and seeing how kids here act with no true discipline in schools, it is the same way as GA. Kids think they rule the world. Oh, and for those that say corporal punishment teaches the powerful can control the weak through force...well, yeah, what world are you living in where that doesn't happen anyway?

Bodybuilders are in a different class of their own. As mentioned before, pre-competition is a lot of calories (4,000+ a day) and a ton of Protein (I have seen as high as 1 gram per pound of bodyweight). A lot of the heavyweights go over 300 pounds during the training cycle, then compete/show at around 260. Unless you are working out every day, it'll be impossible to reach close to what they are doing to their bodies. Typical adults would be hard pressed to add 20 pounds of lean muscle mass in a year, so don't fall into the trap of "Oh, I gained 10 pounds this month, but that's ok because muscle weighs more than fat." It's true it does, but 99.9% of people out there would not be able to gain that much in lean muscle in such a short time frame. Short term weight gain for those of us who lift weights is typically Water retention. Oh, and those bodybuilders use diuretics to lose those last few pounds prior to shows too. They don't look like they do in pictures as soon as the next day, and a few have died from dehydration complications.

Thanks Kat!! I'll be looking forward to my next fill. I know what it feels like to eat incorrectly, but only sometimes. I think I need the fill to get that kick in the pants a bit more often.

So far chicken has been fairly easy for me, except when I've tried too big of a bite. I can eat Chicken with Garlic Sauce from my local Chinese place, broccoli and all no problem. If I even try one forkful of rice though, I'll PB very soon. So far, rice is the only thing I've tried which has made me PB. Chicken has given me that chest pain feeling, but it has never reversed course.

"OMG every time I ate 3-4 bites was IT!" Were you full after those 3-4 bites or were you still hungry? The reason why I ask is I'm about to be filled for the second time, and I have asked the doctor to be as restrictive as he deems safe for me. However, if restriction just means being unable to eat and staying hungry, that is not optimal. My doctor uses three ways to describe the fill. Yellow: big meals and hungry. Green: small meals and satisfied. Red: can barely get anything down and hungry all the time. I'm a yellow right now and have been stuck at the same weight for a little over three weeks. Time to change something else, as my exercise program is getting changed all of the time. I'm not eating nearly as much as I used to, but I am eating way more than what some people here are describing as a satisfying meal.

Holy Cow said the Bovine Priest!!! Those are some shocking numbers, and I now see the main contributer (other than myself) for my weight gain. Chili's, which was my favorite restaurant for years, was killing me!! I am shocked by how high some of those fat content numbers are!

"Hahahaha!!!" It sounds funny, but it is not, as there are still millions of those out there who remain unenlightened about the true roots of the Mormon religion. Not only are they ignorant; they will be obtuse enough to not want to hear the truth. The only reason I know the whole "Satan gave Joseph Smith the means to write the Book of Mormon" is false is because Satan does not exist. He doesn't need to. Humans are fully capable of unspeakable "evil" without the intervention of a supernatural being. There is no one responsible for our failings or good fortunes other than ourselves.

"Mormons are Christians. We believe in Jesus Christ." I guess this goes back to who you are asking. Not that I am a practicing Methodist anymore, but the United Methodist Church teaches Mormons are cultists and not Christian. I don't care either way, but there is a lot of confusion out there, especially when millions of Protestants (my Baptist friends were taught the same information) learn from their church about other religions. We were even taught the founder of the Mormon church was visited by "an angel of light" and given instruction on writing the Book of Mormon. One catch to that story is Protestants believe the angel of light is Satan.

When the Christians are done with Christmas, the Pagans would like it back...along with their Yule log.

Hey, if it's good enough for Abraham and Moses, it's good enough for me! :car: Seriously though...why would any man want to be married to more than one woman? Oh, the drama!! It's hard enough to keep one woman emotionally satisfied, much less more than one...however, if there were two women or more in the house, they could talk to each other and leave me alone during the game on Sunday...there may be a reason after all!!