KartMan

Yes and no. The incumbent has a huge advantage in any election which has been shown to sway the results in their favor. I don’t see term limits as a lazy way out, just one way to remove an fair advantage in the system. I would be for a system of term limits under the right circumstances. I would also like to see serious spending caps on campaigns, more transparency in voting records vs contributions, public financing, and a host of other reforms. Have I mentioned I’m for all reform? Gonna change my account name to ReformMan :blushing:

Patty, I don’t agree with you on much of anything, but I do agree with term limits. I wouldn’t limit people form serving in different capacities, but I would be in favor of limiting a specific role. For example, you could serve say 4 terms in the House – then move on to the Senate or some other role, but not back to the House. I would also advocate lengthening the term from 2 years to 4 years for the House. It seems like those guys are in campaign mode from the moment they get elected.

Liar, its on page 15. Everybody knows that even pages are blank in that book because they are on the left side and nothing good comes from the left side.

Ok, time for another Secular Democracy rant… This country should make laws that are constitutional and supported by a majority of voters. If voters don’t like a law, they can change out their legislators (or in some states have a referendum on the ballot). God, religion, the bible, your preacher, etc, etc, etc - none of those things have any significance to our laws. It is a mere coincidence that some things that are illegal are also considered sins, but it is only a coincidence. Your (or anyone else’s) idea of sin has absolutely no relevance to me nor does it have any bearing on the law.

You are being just a little disingenuous here. You are implying that you were “for” his change (whatever that change was) and now you are upset that you didn’t get what you bargained for. You didn’t vote for him and you didn’t support ANY of his change. Guess what? I did, and I am a happy customer. In fact, I think I’ll shop here again.

You know what Patty? It’s really all about compromise? If I had my way, we would have Single Payer (sort of like Medicare for all). Obviously, you would be for no Government Insurance at all (which if you are consistent, should mean that you wish to abolish Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA as well). Guess what? The middle ground here is the Public Option, not really what either of us wants but a compromise nonetheless.

I have no problem in someone pulling together sources form the internet and using them here, I do it all the time. In fact I often include links so that people don’t think I am just making something up. It just came across in the opening sentence that Patty wrote that it was HER idea and that it was original. Sometimes there is a fine line between paraphrasing and plagiarizing. I think this was the later.

Exactly! Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Obama won the election 52.9% to McCain’s 45.7% (365 to 173 electoral votes). It may have been a while since you took 7th grade math so I’d like to inform you that that is a majority, and by the way its also a plurality, which has great significance in our political system. Democrats hold a majority in the Senate with 57 seats (2 Independents, 1 open seat, and 40 Republicans) and a sizable majority in the House with 256 seats (178 Republicans, no Independents, and 1 open seat). A good number of the voters in 2008 rallied behind Obama because of a number of his core issues, not the least of which was a major overhaul to our failing Health Care system. Several of the current congressional democrats were swept into office with him on that wave of change. So surprise Patty, change is what we (the voters) want, it’s about us (the people). There are not far more people against it as you put it, the numbers don’t support that claim. Even if you are right, and Democrats lose their seats by voting for this, I am fine with that. Making Health Care a Right and not a Privilege is that important. We have been trying to get this done since Truman and we should not cave into the special interests and the Insurance lobby yet again.

I doubt they drug test. I would quit if I were you though. I don’t have a moral issue with Marijuana, but I don’t think it is at all good for you. A lot of people get the munchies when they get high, not a very good side effect for someone trying to lose weight. Just my 2 cents.

Heck no, it’s not ok for me (except as a rare treat, and rare for me is a treat every other week or so). I am a 6’ tall male. I consume between 900-1500 calories a day. When I workout, I bump that up to about 1800 calories. Within those daily calories, I need to consume about 150 grams of protein. It doesn’t matter where my calories come from. But if they come from crap like milkshakes (which is all a flavored coffee is), then I need to miss a meal, and I don’t like doing that. Now I love coffee as much as the next guy, but I have switched to no cream or milk and only Splenda as a sweetener, I never go for the flavored stuff. Aside form empty calories, I find that sweets like this tend to make me hungrier, which only spirals downhill if I give in to it. I am on a roll with weight loss, I don’t want to screw it up with the 5 minutes of pleasure this drink can give me. On those rare occasions that I do treat myself to something like this or ice cream, I do my best to over compensate with working out or being extra strict with food the next few days. There is a saying on a lot of tickers on here that goes something like this “nothing tastes as good as being thin feels”. Well, I’m pretty close to goal and a lot of folks that know me are actually starting to call me thin. Thin? Me? Can you believe it? Well, it’s true. And you know what? That saying is very true.

I was excited right away because the pounds were melting away pretty steadily right from the beginning. But then I got super excited when people that didn’t know about the surgery really started to notice (which was about 3-4 months out and about 40lbs down). Then I got even more excited when I passed my lowest ever dieting weight (206lbs) about 6 months out. Now, I am under 200 lbs and haven’t been this low since getting out of bootcamp back in 1984. I’m really stoked right now because I am less than 10lbs from my goal weight and within striking distance of my main goal, which is to get to a Body Fat of 15%.

At this point I think he should do just that. He has the mandate and the majority. As for the spineless blue dogs, they should worry less about their seats in 2010 and remember who brought them to the dance in the first place.

Gee Patty, have you ever had a thought for yourself or do you always plagiarize? I thought the writing style looked a little different and I was right. If anyone wants to read the full article in the WSJ, here it is in it’s original format (written by two Republican congressmen BTW). Patty, I know this isn’t high school and you are not technically cheating. But you came across in your statement that YOU had the answer. Not the BEST answer in my opinion, and not really even YOUR answer.

To be honest I only researched bypass and the band. I didn’t give bypass much thought because it seemed a little scary to me. For good or bad, I bought into the marketing hype about the band being adjustable and reversible which helped a lot in decision. I didn’t know anything about the sleeve so I didn’t look into it. The thing that stuck in my head about the band was that because of it’s restrictive nature, it should help dramatically with portion control. I had been pretty successful losing weight in the past on NutriSystem (which is all about portion control), but I couldn’t keep it off because I was never able to curb my hunger. I knew the band was for me because I knew that portion size was my big problem. I was never much of a snacker or junk food junkie, but when I ate I ATE BIG:eek:. After about 7 months, I can say that from that perspective it has worked beautifully. It’s worked great for me:thumbup: No complications to speak of. The learning curve on relearning how to eat has been a little tough, but I think I finally have it figured out. I am down over 95lbs, about 5-10lbs from goal and still losing fairly easily, dropped from XXXL shirts and 44 pants to M shirts and 34 pants, have more energy than ever and generally feel great.

These answers apply only to my situation, your mileage may vary. 1.How much does it hurt? The surgery didn’t hurt at all. I had moderate shoulder pain for about 7-10 days but it was very manageable. 2. How much pain meds did you need? (I have a 3 year old and don't want to be out of it.) I took liquid Tylenol for the first few days, I was very alert. 3. How long until you were released to go home? I went home about 2 hours after surgery (somebody else drove) and had a moderate work day the next day. 4. How long do you feel one should take off work? (I'm a teacher so my job's not demanding - physically that is) I avoided heavy lifting for several days. I would say give yourself a cushion from work for at least a few days if you can. 5. Anyone have any experience with CIGNA good or bad? Sorry, I was self pay

Oh my, I’ve lost 96.4lbs or: a small bale of hay, an average 2 year old, an automobile tire (I know where that was) and a Guinea Pig

It happened to me too, although I didn’t use insurance so it didn’t matter. It did mean though that I was even fatter than I expected (at least from a BMI perspective) and that all of my goals had to shift a little. I know that I used to be 6’1” because I was in the military and they are pretty specific about that sort of thing. About 8 years ago I hurt my back pretty badly and crushed a few discs, now I am closer to 6’ 0” rather than 6’1”

I hate to be the one to defend the media… But I have to call it the way I see it. The media is not our friend, they are not the purveyors of justice. They are a business, and they are trying to make money. How do they make money? By getting people to watch. How do they get people to watch? By sensationalizing the news, by making a big deal about the lunatic fringe. They just love the way the town halls erupted. When history looks back, it will probably see that a relatively small (but probably very organized) group actually led the outrage at those meetings. The media is just doing what it does, making ratings for themselves. Don Henley said it best in Dirty Laundry

I’ve said on here before that I'm for all reform, even Tort Reform. But reforming the legal system, while important and may though it may have merit, should not be the crux of our focus. The problem is how for years the Insurance Industry has been allowed to dismantle everything good about medical care in this country. Pre-existing condition clauses, rampant under coverage, exorbitant rates, last minute claim denials, insurance portability, etc, etc, etc need to be the real focus of the problem. When are we going to realize in this country (the way the rest of the Industrialized World has) that Health Care is a right and not a privilege?

LOL:lol: Facts? We don’t need no stinking facts. In all seriousness, the Right in this issue just doesn’t have a lot of facts on why Health Care reform is a bad idea. In fact it’s not a bad idea and they know it, but it may be a way for them to strike a blow to Obama. That is why they throw blood in the Water with things like “death panels”, gutting Medicare for seniors, putting a bureaucrat in you doctors office, blah, blah, blah. This country has needed reform for a long time and we are finally on the cusp of getting it right. Patty, I’m sorry – you are being duped by the people in the industry that fear that their cash cow is going to go away. I know you don’t believe it, and that is sad for you. But it will be even sadder for they country if we collectively fall for this BS yet again and do nothing.

Would you then suggest we do away with the SBA? Look it up. It is a government program (funded with tax dollars) that helps many small businesses get started and stay running. Oh, and by the way, by all accounts it works pretty well. Sweeping remarks like yours about all programs being bad and government involvement in business being the end to democracy are not only small minded, they show your lack of true understanding of how our system works.

When you get stuck and PB from a piece of meat that you just toothpicked out of your teeth and swallowed. This actually happened to me today.