JKane

I was interested right until I saw Jane Espenson's involvement. She's ruined so many promising properties now that I'm convinced Buffy and BSG were good in spite of her involvement--not due to it! What she did to Torchwood is unforgivable and her unfettered on Battlestar Galactica gave us The Plan (and the first season of Caprica)...

I was a huge fan of Wiener before, now, not at all. Especially since it's a democratic primary he needs to lose and go away. He's an embarrassment. If he wasn't running as a married family man--who apologized for past indiscretions and *promised not to do it again* it wouldn't be a big deal. As with Clinton, the lie (Wiener's "Changed Man" cover story as he was actively still doing *worse* than what got him in trouble in the first place) is a bigger issue than the actions themselves... Even putting aside any Puritanical reaction the lack of discretion / basic common sense makes him ineligible for public office. The Daily Show did a great segment on him Weds. night. I would still like to see Spitzer back in office though...

Don't I know it! But I also know that most of it is crap. This is where the love it or leave it comes in. Yes, sometimes I'm tempted by candy in the check-out isle, etc... but I know exactly what they all taste like and it's just not that special. I'd rather have an amazing desert at a good restaurant (on cheat day) than that Kit Kat, because even with Dark Chocolate it just doesn't actually taste like much! Same for a good $10+ dollar burger (on wheat bun, no mayo) *with friends* instead of wolfing down crappy fast food during the week. It helps that I have friends who are also trying to eat healthy, so we can do a pretty carb-free BBQ or hit Zankou Chicken (LA area Mediterranean/Armenian chain) after a hike. At home I only have healthy stuff and I'm by no means a chef, but I can saute spinach pretty damn well and have recently discovered how to make a damn fine omelet with some stir-fry vegetables (big bag from Costco freezer section) topped with salsa (again, start to eat healthy and you'll crave healthy). And I try to avoid eating at night at home, instead I try to have a protein shake (Costco has good pre-made ones with 30g protein each)... otherwise once I start at night I tend to eat ALL THE THINGS, and even though it's healthy you *can* eat too much, especially fruit, popcorn and "healthy fats" (nuts, avocado...). Tim Ferris has some good guidelines and ways to think about things, but any diet that says you can eat an unlimited amount of *anything* is mistaken... especially when you have the stomach capacity of a ~400lbs man. One other trick I've picked up which seems to help is short term fasting after overindulging or a cheat day. Hitting 12 hours is easy (stop eating at 9PM, don't eat again 'till 9AM) and adding a couple extra hours (waiting 'till lunch) to get up to 16 or so seems to have real benefit and really isn't hard when I've stuffed myself the previous day. And thanks!

Thank you!

When in the mood for hot I get a Red Eye (coffee with an extra shot), usually in the mood for cold so I get an iced coffee, put in a splash of non-fat milk and a Sugar in the Raw or two. Crunchy sugar, one tenth the calories of the fraps, caffeine high... hmm, could ask them to blend that maybe... But I don't hit Starbucks often, so much cheaper to just make coffee at home.

This started as a response to Four Aces's thread about morning show talking head diet of the week, but I wanted as many to see it as might need to... Calories in VS. calories burned. That's it. There is no miracle diet advice that will magically make us able to eat 4k+ calories a day and lose weight, save spending 16 hours a day killing ourselves at the gym. And watching morning shows is especially unproductive. They specialize in bullshit diet advice and "breakthroughs" that contradict each other day to day. It's not about anything remotely like providing medical advice, their only drive in the world is ratings--so that their advertisers will buy slots to sell you high-calorie over-processed crap every break. When you've really had enough and can't see your health deteriorate any further, it's time to take major action. For me the action was throwing out every food in my house and committing to a medically supervised diet for ~6 months. What really helped was I sick of food--there was nothing I just couldn't go 6+ months without eating again because I'd already eaten so much of all my favorites so often. It was also nice because the meals were already in the house, nothing to overindulge in or make too much of or get dressed and go out for. At times it will be hard, but let your lazyness work for you... And if that isn't enoough you can try the various diet prescriptions, they may help (a bit, again, no magic bullet) to curb your cravings (and they can boost your energy to be active). If hardcore diet alone won't work or you know you can't stay on the path once you've shed the pounds then look at the surgeries. My take was always fuck Lap Band, too much of a band-aid, easy to eat around. Full laproscopic bypass was where I'd figured I'd go if the diet and subsequent lifestyle change didn't work for me. But neither are a magic bullet and many people end up managing to negate them and gain weight back PLUS get the added bonus of a lifetime of complications from the surgery. Even with surgery you have to want it more than you want that crappy week-old doughnut at 7-11. And if you honestly think you *need* that doughnut... well, time to go ahead and pre-order the super-sized coffin. Either way, as the pounds come off, you'll be able to do more and more physically. You'll also find watching TV to be torture, because every ad is a big juicy burger that you clearly see even in fast forward. So go do something instead. Try everything. You'll suck at it at first and be easily tired, but keep going back, make it a habit, and fuck being self conscious. You're bettering yourself and will have probably already lost more than the bitch whom you *think* is judging you has probably ever weighed. Meetup has some great hiking and other miscellaneous fitness groups, by the way. Sadly, there is no 'end' or 'goal' after which you can go back to anything approaching your old ways. When you weigh a lot you burn a lot more calories (1000+ a day additional)--even just sitting around--than when you've gotten down to a healthier weight. So if you ever start to eat like when you were big the weight comes back SO MUCH faster than you've put on additional weight in the past. But, good news is that after as little and as bland as you eat while losing the weight even the healthiest thing at your favorite place will be 10X more tasty than your favorite thing there was when you were eating yourself to death. Start to eat healthy foods (in moderation--despite what any talking head or diet fad book says--you can eat too much of almost anything) and you'll start to crave healthy foods. And one of the most helpful things I ever heard: If I don't fucking love it, I don't eat it. Once you're maintaining a healthy weight you'll have the occasional bad thing, some plans (I do like Tim Ferris's 4 Hour Body--though despite what he says you can go too far on cheat day) even encourage an occasional day off. But don't stuff yourself full of anything that isn't orgasmic. And that's in the future, don't read about and fixate on food you will/can eat in the future while you're working on losing weight NOW.

What did I ever do to you, Suckrates?

I only saw the first episode but was massively unimpressed. Glad it's some people's cup of tea--or it got better. Streaming the show is almost certainly free w/ Amazon Prime and that's just a side benefit to discounts and free expedited shipping if you shop their often!

Asian guy was indeed very hot, pretty much nothing else to recommend this movie. IF YOU SEE IT, DO NOT DO SO SOBER! Saw the first one at a theater that served beer, improved it immensely. This one, stone sober, was horrible. Typical phoned-in Bruce Willis, no chemistry whatsoever between him and MLP. Malkovich was stoned/drunk/phoning in as well. The 5 or so minutes of Hellen Mirren were about the only moments worth a damn other than aforementioned asian hottie.

Not at all sure that's clear to anybody. No argument from me that it's overly complicated and the proposal above would be better, but in states with democratic majorities who want to see it succeed such as California and New York it's already shown a surprising amount of promise on making rates reasonable. Many of us who found it impossible to get or afford coverage before can't wait. And many more have already benefited from large sections of the law already in effect. Three points: There's really nothing that could've made the US healtcare 'system' worse than it currently is. The health and even life itself of the populous is something the government by every right ought to have a major interest in, instead of it being a profit center for a bunch of billion-dollar industries. Every single asshat on Fox bloviating about the horrors of gov't healthcare finds/found it good enough for their own parents.

Capacity problems too. A couple years ago a friend who lived in Venice had T-Mobile and whenever the tourists hit (every weekend) he couldn't place or receive calls. Don't know if that's been improved at all, but it always seemed a second-rate network. Not that ATT is much of a prize...

The book is good, though it suffers from being familiar because it was an instant classic and many parts were copied into other things in the many years since it came out. Where the universe really gets interesting is the sequels, I really liked some of the ideas in them (the original ones, not talking about the 'Bean' moneygrab). That Mormon asshole bigot can write.

I've been saying this for years. Make medicare available everyone at cost +20%. That 20% gives private companies room to compete and is used to stabilize the medicare trust fund for the elderly and provide for more coverage of low income persons.

I'm also not wild about the size, and will miss having a real keyboard... But for size, there is also now a G 4 mini, and soon to be an HTC One mini.

Except for default Google Maps / Navigation... and anything you would like to interact with the system further than Apple will allow it to. I've been considering the S4 too. Thing is ATT has the most compelling version, the Active. Except I've not yet had a problem damaging my phone with water or covering it in food (the main danger shown in the ad).

I fucking loved Pacific Rim. Most epic, over the top Sci-Fi I've seen in many years. A lot like Independence Day but better. Worth seeing in theaters and worth seeing in "Imax" 3D! It's not perfect, there are some parts that drag and some things that are goofy, but the fight scenes/vfx are so well done you'll probably let all that slide while you're watching. I wanna see it again!

Looking forward to it, first one was great--with a couple drinks in me, expect the same of the sequel.

The kid didn't do anything interesting, I did think the older guy was cute but clicked close as soon as he started singing in auto-tune.

Dell has a really interesting cross between a tablet and All-In-One that I'm interested in. When it gets the new Haswell chip and therefor better battery life I may well buy one. But it does a lot more than a regular tablet--full Windows machine.

I think Dick Cheney calling him a traitor is pretty major vindication for his actions. I'm not too sure of Snowden's motives, but am glad people are finally paying attention to extremes the security industrial complex keeps surpassing.

Jumping in so fast, what, did you get knocked up? ;o) Congrats!

We don't give money to somebody who may (/ has in the past) use it suppress our civil rights. When Card worked against us in the Prop 8 fight, even though I loved the original series, I gave all his books to a local used book store. He hurt us with his actions, sorry but I don't believe in turning the other cheek or any other such claptrap. He's written a very interesting plea though, that basically goes even further than what we've achieved, realizing that whether you personally agree or not CONSTITUTIONALLY equal rights will have to become nationwide. > Ender’s Game is set more than a century in the future and has nothing to do with political issues that did not exist when the book was written in 1984. With the recent Supreme Court ruling, the gay marriage issue becomes moot. The Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution will, sooner or later, give legal force in every state to any marriage contract recognized by any other state. Now it will be interesting to see whether the victorious proponents of gay marriage will show tolerance toward those who disagreed with them when the issue was still in dispute. Orson Scott Card My plan is to buy a ticket for something more worthy of my dollars then slip in to Ender's Game. Hopefully others will as well.

Congrats Lucky!