marjon9

I can't answer right now, I'm still eating dinner (from last night).

In this situation I don't think $100 should be enough to cover it, but I'm not sure you can make pets the same as kids in that way. Maybe there is another way, like $100 compensatory damages, and a million in punitive damages, something like that. But to me the thing that is strangest of all about this pet food situation is to learn that one company made all the pet food for all the stores from Walmart Reject Emporium all the way up to Pampered Pets Plush Boutique. They made everything from the pet food they sell at 125 cans for a dollar type of pet food all the way up to the $125 a can type of pet food. Isn't that weird? Do you think it's the same stuff? I've always given my pets the "good" stuff. But am I just stupid? Is it all the same?

Sounds like good progress. I can't help but note, however, that you are starting out your weight loss journey at about the place I some day hope to get if all goes really well with the band and if I also get a bad stomach flu that means I can't eat anything for about four months. If all of that happens, I might someday think about pants with a 36 inch waist. I believe the correct term for this situation is: "Sheesh" But still, I heartily congratulate you. It must be a great feeling.

My e-mail account is bursting at the seams. What's going on around here today?

I told everyone I was a crack addict going to rehab.

Lisah, your post was interesting to me because it brought back a lot of memories of when I first started to notice my pulse situation. I also have an "irregular pulse." A lot of things can cause that. Some can be serious. I'm not a doctor so I won't speculate about your situation. As for me, I have atrial fibrillation. It's basically an electrical problem that triggers a heartbeat in an irregular fashion. They have a procedure now that seems to be very helpful as a permanent cure. They send a catheter into your heart and burn or freeze a couple specific nerves that cause the problem, and it seems to be quite a safe and effective procedure. But they will not do it on me until I lose some weight. They say it is too hard to see inside me through all the fat during surgery with their MRI stuff or whatever they use, and they don't want to deal with moving around a 350 lb guy during the procedure. They say it increases risk to a degree that they don't want to do the procedure. That's one of the reasons I started looking into the lap band. I'm down to 308 now. When I lose another 30 or 40 pounds, they will be willing to do this procedure. That's my story. It's possible that you have the same thing I have. But you may have something completely different. I've been seeing a cardiologist for a while for this. I think it would be a good idea for you to do the same. One thing that is an issue for me. With atrial fibrillation the blood does not pump correctly. So, there is a small but still significant risk of blood clots. Blood clots can be a cause of heart attack or stroke, so you don't want them hanging around inside you. A lot of people who have atrial fibrillation take blood thinners for just this reason. I've been on blood thinners for about a year now: Coumadin (or actually, generic Coumadin, which is a lot cheaper). This could be an issue for you too. Like I say, I'm no doctor and you should not get all worried by anything I say. I don't know squat. All I can say is, it's great that you discovered this. It's much better that you know. There are probably things you can and should be doing about it. Go ahead and see a cardiologist. If possible, try not to worry a lot until you have the facts. Millions of people deal with irregular heartbeats. I'd be curious to hear about what you learn about your situation, if you feel like sharing it later.

Is that the Rogue River Valley? I used to visit Gold Beach all the time. I love the area. Now I live on the East Coast. It has it's nice things to see as well, but I do miss the West. Anyway, welcome to the board. You'll find a great deal of information hear. Try reading some interesting threads and search for stuff. We're all going through the same stuff. And, as a general answer to your question, it seems like losing weight seems to help just about all health issues. I've lost about 30 lb so far, in two months, and I'm feeling better already.

I wish there was a magic answer, but there is just nothing you can do to speed up the grieving process sometimes. Of course you will stop crying and get over him and find someone else. You know that. But that does not help much in the short term. You are going through one of the hardest things there is. Breaking up. And you are doing it at the worst time. Right after surgery. This is just plain tough. Of course you feel awful How could you feel otherwise? Don't worry about stopping crying. It's probably the best thing you can do. Little by little you will start to come around. And, over the next months as the weight comes off and you are feeling better about yourself, I'm sure there will be no shortage of new guys. In the meantime, keep posting on this board. People will be there for you.

I'm not sure you should Celebrate yet. From reading some of your posts, I'm not convinced you will pass the alcohol and drug screening test. Just Kidding!! Congratulations!

Sunnysea, can I get some blue lips?

That is amazing. I was number 80 or something like that. I guess he's doing about two a day.

That is fantastic. Welcome to the Light Side. Great news and thanks for sharing your interesting story. There goes Shesha, causing trouble again. We're getting used to that around here. You are recovering really quick. That's very fortunate. I was basically a vegetable for almost two weeks after surgery. I had to keep telling my wife that vegetables are good for you. She was not buying it. Well, it looks like Dr. K is really heading toward the big time on this lap banding stuff. I wonder how many he has done now. Did he mention it? Anyway, I think anyone who goes to him is lucky. Even though other lap band surgeons have done more, he's done thousands of other types of laparoscopic surgeries, so I feel like you are in good hands when you go there. And the staff is great. So, again, welcome, and thanks for sharing your story.

Below is a link to an article by a Christian fundamentalist who argues that even if science eventually proves that people are born gay, homosexuality is still just as much a sin, and that Christians should work on finding pre-natal anti-homosexuality treatments. Here is a quote from the article: "Homosexual activists have claimed that sexual orientation cannot be changed. What if a hormone patch during pregnancy will do the job?" Here's another: In a culture that encourages us to customize everything from our Nikes to our venti skinny lattes, perhaps it is only a matter of time before baby-making becomes just another consumer transaction. Already have a girl? Make this one a boy! Want to impress your boho friends? Make a real statement with lesbian twins! Before offering words of advice, Mr. Mohler explains: "Christians who are committed to think in genuinely Christian terms should think carefully about these points:" [sage advice follows] You can't make this stuff up folks. http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=891

Originally Posted by Lap_dancer Okay, following this logic, liberals want to force everyone else to recognize gay marriage as a legal wedded union between husband and husband or wife and wife. Why should I be okay with that just because someone else says it's their lifestyle choice? My answer to that is that marriage has two components, a secular component and a religious component. The secular component is extremely important to all members of society. This component of marriage determines inheritance rights, rights in relation to children, the right to make decisions for a spouse who is in the hospital, tax ramifications, etc. In addition to that, marriage has secular social benefits. People need to feel included in the society in which they live. This is crucially important to human psychological well-being. And remember, all of these are secular issues. This has nothing to do with religion. There are also religious components to marriage. Each religion has its own traditions and beliefs about marriage. Obviously, no one from outside the particular religion has any right to dictate what is believed in someone else's religion. But the problem comes in when people with certain religious beliefs decide to dictate to other members of society just exactly which secular benefits of society that person is allowed to enjoy. No one has the right to do that. No one has the right to say, " I don't 'accept' homosexuality, therefore your domestic partner who you have shared your life with for 25 years has to die totally unnecessarily because I do not recognize your right to sign the medical authorization." Exactly this has happened many times. Sorry, Lap Dancer, you don't have that right. This is a secular society. There is a separation of Church and State. Even though Christians (of one sort or another) may be in the majority in this society, that does not give them the right to make determinations for how other members of society enjoy the secular benefits available in that society. No one is asking you to "accept" a homosexual marriage. Feel free to reject it in your mind and heart and in the eyes of your God. But you have absolutely no right whatsoever to cross the boundaries of your religion and tell, or worse, legislate, how other people live their lives.

My comment on this is that it is interesting. I would imagine there probably is a scientific explanation for homosexuality. The one you describe may be it. Personally I doubt that the explanation you describe really could be the scientific answer, because there are and always have been so many millions of gay people all around the world, that a single environmental answer of that nature seems unlikely to me. So many people experience stress in their lives. Are there more gay people born after the Rawandan masacres? Did people in Bosnia start having more gay children after the Serbian persecution? I just have not seen any evidence of that. Besides, to me answers of this nature are not that important. In my view, the significant factor here is that gay people themselves, almost unanimously, believe that they are gay by nature, not by choice. Who am I to think that I know better? There may be a few gay people have learned to hate themselves through societal and religious condemnation to the point where they seek a "cure," or even go into churches declaring that they have been "reformed." But there can be no doubt that the overwhelming majority of gay people have the view that they were born that way. That is good enough for me. I don't feel like I am in a position to challenge that. And in light of the unanimity of that perspective among gay people themselves, that is good enough for me.

leatha, I feel like you misunderstand completely why people have a problem with Bible believing Christians. It is not because people have some sort of prejudice against them. Not at all. When people have issues with Bible believing Christians it is IN RESPONSE TO ACTIONS TAKEN BY THEM. This is the key point you seem to misunderstand. No one is going out hunting Christians in order to hate them. The fact is, they are simply responding to what Christians do toward them. I want to tell you that I have no problem in any way with "Bible believing Christians." I do not have the least bit of animosity toward any Christians based on their beliefs, or any other person for their beliefs. You are incorrect if you believe that Bible believing Christians are the "weirdos" in this conversation in any way. That is just not true. The "weirdos" in this conversation, in fact, are those people who believe they know best how other people should live their lives. That is the type of person I have a fight with. The plain truth is, most of the people who fit that bill also happen to be Bible believing Christians. But as far as I am concerned, that is an irrelevant coincidence. My problem is not with Christians. It is with people who believe they know best how other people should live their lives. Many points of view exist on any topic. I have no problem with that. I have no need to force anyone else to believe as I do. These differences in opinion make for lively debate and I think that is great. The problem for me comes in when people with one particular point of view also believe with absolute certainty they are correct because God said so. When a person thinks like that, there is no room left for discussion. When people believe that God says that homosexuality is an abomination, they believe with absolute certainty that they are right about that view. They don't consider it to be their own personal opinion. They consider it to be the Word Of God. Not only that, after all, since God said it, that means that people who think like that need to go out and force that point of view on all other citizens of this country through legislation. They believe that since God said, and therefore it must absolutely be correct, and that therefore we should be teaching it in schools. They believe that since, in their view, God said homosexuality is an abomination, that therefore they have a right to tell other citizens that they cannot serve in the military, adopt children, get married, visit a significant other in the hospital, etc. That is what I have a problem with. It has nothing at all to do with whether or not someone is a Bible believing Christian. My fight is with any person who believes they have a right to tell someone else how they must live their lives.

gadgetlady, if you are interested in being fair you are going to have to admit that no one has made the argument that they can offer you biological proof that explains homosexuality. No one has made that claim, yet you repeatedly ask for it in a manner that suggests that you are calling someone on a promise they can't keep. This is nothing more than a way of avoiding what is actually being said. Because you really don't have any way to refute the arguments that are actually being made. The gay "gene" thing is a diversion. But it's not really working. It just makes it look like you don't want to engage in a real discussion. The thing you don't want to talk about is this: The overwhelming majority of gay people (statistically close to 100%) experience their sexuality just exactly like you do. They are gay because they are. That's it. Just like you are not gay because you are not. There is no "choice" involved for either. You can keep standing on your stool in the park and screaming about how you know two people who were "cured" of being gay, or you know one person who "chose" to be gay, but all of that is just a diversion. The thing that is so hard for you to face is that the overwhelming majority of gay people are just like you. They are gay because that's how they are. End of story. Because reality conflicts with your religious training, you are stubbornly trying to find some way to avoid facing reality. You make silly arguments like you know one woman who used to be gay but is cured. You make another silly argument that "of course gay people believe they are gay, a person struggling with mental challenges can't think straight." Or something like that. But those arguments are just transparently silly. I know how hard it is for you to squarely look at that reality on this point, because it does not fit with the whole "abomination" thing you Christians like to spout. But there is really no way for you to avoid the truth on this. Your diversions and false, red herring arguments are not real debate, they are just ways of avoiding the an honest discussion. An honest discussion has to start with the facts.

No, you definitely do not have to have a point. You are totally free to make pointless posts.

You are correct, many of the points made on this thread have been made on other threads. And you are correct, paladin is a Christian and he was probably expecting responses like this. And your point is?....

If you think that makes your point, have at it. What I mean (as I think you know very well) is that their "preference" for people of the same sex is exactly like your "preference" for people of the opposite sex. It is just the way it is. It's just who they are. You can think of them as people who are sick and need to be cured if you want to. But that is a terribly arrogant position in life, don't you think, to believe that you know better than others about who they are?

Exactly! gadgetlady, there are millions and millions of gay people around the world, most scientific estimates are around 3 to 5% of the population. There are probably many in your life that you don't know about. And there have been gay people for many thousands of years. Yet you choose to take a worldview that says you know better than these millions and millions of people do about who they are. In your view they are "challenged." The fact is, they are just like us. Having a particular sexual preference is no different from having a different one. The thing that makes it a challenge is the hatred of homophobes, many of whom are conservative Christians.

Hi Shesha, I don't have much wisdom about fills, but from reading this forum I think it is fair to say that you won't know for sure about the fill for a while. I think it is a good sign that you could eat and drink, at least a small amount. That would tend to show that you are on the right track. But they say it takes some time to know for sure. I hope you will let us know how it goes. I'm definitely curious.

It is absolutely irrefutable that the overwhelming majority of gay people do not experience their sexual preference as a choice. That is irrefutable. If you want to believe that it really is a choice, and that you know better, and that all gay people are really just victims of environmental influences, then believe what you want. As for the gay "gene," you are confusing two issues. I never made any claims for biological proof. My claims are are that gay people, themselves, do not believe it is a choice. If you want to believe otherwise, and that you know better than all these people about who they are, then you are free to do that. It seems a little self-righteous and arrogant to me, but you are free to believe that.

Yes, the experiences of your friend, and the very very tiny percentage of other gay people who feel that way, can be totally discounted on a statistical level. The fact is, 99.999% of gay people do not believe the way she does. If you don't know that to be true, then you have not done anything like a scientific analysis of the issue. I think it would be fair to say that you made up your mind about this, then found a few people to confirm the position you already believed, and now you "choose to believe what [you] think accurately represents the world around [you]. You can choose to believe whatever you want. But you really should be careful about your claim that you have "studied" the issue. That is not a fair claim when it goes against absolutely irrefutable scientific facts.

You end a lot of your posts with the invitation to let the flame wars begin. I don't understand that. I am not flaming you at all. And I also never challenged the fact that you found paladin's post disrespectful. I told you that. I fully believe you that you found paladin's post disrespectful. I truly wanted to hear your opinion about that. I told you in my post that my comments after that were not directed toward you, and they were not. If you never destroyed anyone's life, then good for you. Like I said, my comments were not directed toward you. But conservative Christian homophobes do destroy lives regularly with their hatred of gay people. If you are not one of those, great. And, concerning your lady friend who says that she believes homosexual behavior is a choice, yes, it is true, people like that are pulled out of the woodwork regulary. In fact, a number of gay people can even find themselves publicly declaring that they are "cured." But if you know as much as you say you do about this topic, then you will have to admit. The overwhelming number of gay people in this world do NOT believe that their sexual preference is a choice. There may be the occassional person like your friend who states otherwise. But you can even find the occassional person who has such self-loathing that they even declare themselves cured of being black. Look at Michael Jackson. This extremely rare aberation does not change the absolutely incontestable reality that gay people are born that way, just like straight people. And if you believe otherwise, then you simply do not know as much about the subject as you say you do.