Seems like every day, someone is talking about the presidential election again, and it's not for almost 2 more years. I always wonder if the people who are ALWAYS proclaiming their political party are even paying attention anymore? No one even listens to themselves!!! Me, I'm a reader, and I read a lot of stuff from both sides. Both sides have good points, and both sides have good politicians. Seriously. I've voted for both parties, in some cases because I believed what they said. For the most part, I've come out of it okay. I'm not rich. I'm not union. I'm not on welfare. I'm somewhere in the middle, actually.
I'm not really religious, and I hate it when anyone uses religion as a reason to do something. I try to live by the basic ten 'shalt nots', but I've flunked a time or two. I think we all have. And I don't want YOUR religion, or HIS, or HERS. I have my own beliefs, based on my own personal experience, the stuff I read, the stuff I see. For example, I'm more upset by the young punks that baked a puppy - I swear, they did it! and it was a live puppy, until it got baked - than I am by corporate executives that shade the truth.
So let's think about some of this stuff. Why did we really get upset about Martha Stewart? Because she tried to get MORE based on something someone told her, and we didn't have that same information? Big deal. Lots of people get more based on what someone tells them. Look at the welfare people you KNOW could work, and you KNOW they're cheating the government (federal, state, or local). Do you tell? Probably not, because you wish you had the guts to do it. The cleaning lady who is on 'disability' because of her back... the single mom who keeps having kids by different guys... the co-worker who calls in sick because he/she has other things they'd rather do today. People cheat. Get over it.
On the political side, the democrats/liberals are yammering about how the tax cut is killing the welfare system, the schools, the funds for police, yada yada yada. And besides, they hate it that the rich got a tax cut too! Well, what did they think was going to happen? We like tax cuts, because it gives us more cash in our pockets. We like having that extra money. Right? Yeah. So what's so bad about everyone having it?
Wait, there's more inconsistency coming... universal health care. All the people who don't have a terrific health care program think EVERYONE should have health care and the government should pay. Equalize it, right? But not the tax cuts... no, those should only be for the poor, right? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. NOT. Either we are all equal or we are not. Which is it? Make up your minds, people!
Here in Michigan, they passed the civil rights amendment. Proposal 2, they call it. It passed, by a pretty good margin, maybe because all the vocal politicians declared they were against it and so all the people who WERE against it figured it wouldn't pass. But all the people who wanted it, went out and voted for it, and BOOM, new law. Of course, the way it reads, it's not anything that wasn't already in the constitution anyway, but opponents say it will breed discrimination, and proponents say it won't. Who knows? It's only been a law for a month, and I haven't seen or heard anything that proves it a problem. I'm still watching.
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On the sidelines... okay, I went out to my local family restaurant tonight, book in hand. I like finding a corner table, the waitresses know me, and I read while I eat. I also listen to all the idiots around me... Lately, a lot of people seem to be drinking sugar-free carbonated drinks. I mention this because they've all started calling them the same thing, and perhaps that's because so many restaurants only offer one sugar-free carbonated drink. Anyway, there I was, deep into my book, when this group of three mid-twenties sat down at the booth beside me. The hostess had taken the drink order, two coffees and a diet... yeah, that's the new name. Diet. It amuses me that they have chosen this name - both customers and wait-staff. Almost every time I hear it, I have to look up to see - what is it they're saying? "I want a diet." "I need a diet." "Do you have a diet?" And most of the time, they NEED a diet!!! I don't mean sugar-free carbonated whatever-brand... I mean food pyramid, or low fat, or lower carb, or whatever your favorite DIET is. Most of the time, these people really need to go on a diet, not drink one!
I wonder sometimes... I know, this could get me hung by my toenails... I've heard about beer bellies, and usually this phrase brings to mind a man slumped in front of a tv drinking a beer, with this huge belly hanging over his belt. Beer is made from hops, grains, or something along that line. Those are plants... like vegetables, fruit, herbs - plants. Most plants have few calories. I'm not really sure how beer is made, but I've seen that same belly on a lot of pop/soda drinkers so I don't think it's caused by plants. And I know a few people who drink a lot of sugar-free drinks because the sugar-full kind make you fat, right? Well, they're all getting that belly! So maybe it's not the sugar... maybe it's the carbonation...
Think on this a bit. For the button-hole surgeries, doctors make a tiny slit in the skin/whatever and put in a tube and pump gas into the area to open it up so they can stick in these tiny optical surgery tools - lasers and whatnot - and so you end up with a tiny scar instead of a huge one. This is great. For the abdominal surgeries, you have a swollen belly (hint) for a bit, but it goes away as the gas diminishes. I'm not sure how it diminishes. Maybe it just dissipates, maybe it becomes foul-smelling gifts... Anyway, if just a little of that gas can swell up your belly for a few hours, maybe this carbonation stuff does too. It's a gas. It has gas bubbles. And it makes people feel full. People are ALWAYS sitting back, resting their hands on their stomachs, and saying "no thanks, I'm full." But they've only had a few calories... so they aren't full. But their belly tells them they are. So visualize it... they drink a diet or two or three - free refills, you know - and they feel full, swollen belly. A couple hours later, they have taken a few trips to the bathroom and have another diet, or two, and feel full, swollen belly. Do this a few times a day, every day, and the belly gets stretched a little bit here and there. Hmmmm. And then think about the people you know who aren't fat, just a little "tummy" on them, and they don't weigh enough to go the diet drink route. But they do drink regular carbonated beverages... maybe there's a connection: the carbonation stretches the belly, making the body want more, need more to feel full.
And I'm sure, if they really wanted to lose weight, they could pick one of the three most common calorie-free drinks... water, coffee, and tea. They come in caffeinated and de-caf, and for a few extra calories (they have zero calories in their native form) you can get flavors. But I'd keep an eye on the ones who drink carbonated water...
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