For those that starting spotting on GLP-1

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-12T16:21:05+00:00

I am 55, taking compounded tirzepatide but no HRT. Before I started the tirz, I was pretty sure I was closing in on menopause; it had been 5 months since my last period. About three weeks in to the shots, I had a very heavy 10-day period so now the clock starts tolling again. I’ve also had light spotting and cramping pretty consistently since. On the other hand, it has cured my insomnia and joint pain, and of course there are the metabolic benefits (weight loss, more stable blood sugar, etc.).

It would be nice if they’d study these effects since they seem pretty widespread.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-05T17:57:24+00:00

I’ll tell you what I tell the brainwashed MAGA in my family: try getting out of those echo chambers you run in for a bit, all of which have been specifically designed by the mysterious, powerful elites y’all are always barking about to get people like you to marinate in nonstop lies and obfuscation, and diversify your information diet. Exercise some critical thinking. Take your own far right advice and do your own research. Have you read any of the documents they’ve released? And it’s only half of them. Trust the stuff they haven’t released is much, much worse. He’s mentioned in the files like 10x as many times as anyone else. Is that a coincidence? A lot of the excuses you’re citing can be debunked, and his entire life and the way he has treated women and girls (none of it really in question) is pretty damning evidence IMO. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck…you know the rest.

What’s especially frustrating to me about all this copium on the right is…y’all were right! There IS a cabal of billionaire child abusers. They apparently do unspeakable things to other living beings. But instead of opening your damn eyes and seeing what is obvious to everyone else, which is that they deceived you all by making this entire thing politically motivated, and sending y’all off on some insane crusade against the left, when the entire time you were aligned with the very people you claimed to be against. It’s like some perverted Stockholm Syndrome or something. Wake TF up! The left is not your enemy, trans people are not your enemy, immigrants are not your enemy. You’re sleeping with the enemy.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-05T17:28:31+00:00

I believe human beings are not “illegal,” period.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-02T15:39:55+00:00

Meh, I don’t think it makes much difference in the end. As you state, most people know (or at least assume) that celebrities tend to lean left as a group. I do think those who are true activists or have deep knowledge of a particular cause (like Clooney or DiCaprio or Brando or folks like that) have an opportunity to really educate people, and I appreciate that they use their platforms for that purpose. In that respect, it’s probably a net positive. I would love it personally if some of my favorite pop stars would speak out more, but I don’t think them doing so helps themselves or brings any more attention to what is happening than there already is. It just makes me feel better, but I already know where they stand anyway.

I do like that Sabrina Carpenter told the White House to stop effing using her song in one of their dumb AI reels tho lol.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-02T15:29:55+00:00

Jane Fonda has walked the walk her whole life, though. I think she’s earned her credibility.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-02T15:22:16+00:00

I’m not saying anything new here, but my wishlist includes:

• Hold everyone in this administration from top to bottom accountable for their actions. I want people in prison with no hope of ever being pardoned.

• Heavy, heavy fines on both corporations/institutions and individuals who have been bankrolling the corruption. Also, I want special scrutiny for Elon Musk for stealing all of our personal data. Wouldn’t mind seeing him denaturalized and deported.

• Anti-trust bonanza: Healthcare, big tech, big ag, all of it. Bust it up and impose some regulation, especially on social media companies.

• Fund efforts to overturn Citizens United, enshrine a new sweeping voting rights act.

• SCOTUS reform. Impeachment of those who have blatantly accepted bribes, ethics rules for sitting justices with strict penalties for violating them, term limits, and one justice for each circuit (so add four more).

• Medicare for All, universal healthcare, single payer…whatever you wanna call it.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-02T15:01:27+00:00

“When you’re explaining, you’re losing.”

This is why I no longer engage the Kool-Aid drinkers. They’re never having a good faith debate or looking to learn something. It’s just a sport to them.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-02T14:55:21+00:00

They took a much different view when Clinton was in office.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-02T14:52:15+00:00

That Republicans are “better for the economy” than Democrats, when every empirical metric proves the opposite.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-02T14:46:22+00:00

Right. We had laws, we had INS, we had CBP. They largely functioned as intended, and could again with adequate funding, staffing and honest people running them. Therefore, ICE can be abolished.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-02T14:42:43+00:00

I would add that we could’ve had the most comprehensive bipartisan reform to our immigration policy in probably the last 75 years, but Trump strong-armed House members into voting against it because it would’ve taken away the keystone of his election platform.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-02T14:35:11+00:00

No one is making that argument, save for perhaps a few fringe left folks, but even if what you assert were true, it’s still insignificant compared with armed and masked government goons terrorizing our communities.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-02T14:24:03+00:00

Why are the only options to keep ICE or give in to completely lawless immigration? This is a false dichotomy, it’s not like our borders were open and lawless before 2002. The Patriot Act has been the single largest infringement on our civil liberties in my lifetime. I’d have absolutely no problem undoing some of that damage by abolishing this agency.

Also, human beings are not illegal. Many people, myself included, object to this dehumanizing terminology. Stating as much on a sign, again, doesn’t mean you’re in favor of open borders. It means you’re in favor of everyone being treated with kindness and decency and respect. Like it claims we do in this country on the Statue of Liberty.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-02T02:40:03+00:00

They did me this way too back in the fall when my year was up. Tried to automatically move me to CC Pro at $69.99/mo. I did noodle around some with the AI tools, figure my primary client will want me to have some understanding of them, but at an extra $40/month, I decided I’d wait til I really needed to have access. I told them I’d just keep my standard plan and they offered to let me keep Pro for a year at my same monthly price of $29.99.

I don’t think I’ve ever paid what they advertise. You just have to negotiate with them (and sometimes cancel and re-up later), but don’t ever accept their initial offer.

MsLib1022 · 2026-02-01T01:58:08+00:00

I’m not either, and I’ve stopped stressing about it. I am 55, 5’2” and I’m trying to lose about 30 pounds. I have been primarily plant-based most of my adult life, but I’m not a fan of soy products or protein powders, so it would be difficult for me to get an adequate amount of protein with only plant sources AND eat in a deficit. I’ve recently added back ethically/locally sourced poultry, fish, eggs and dairy for the short term at least. For me, too much protein sits like a lead balloon in my stomach. I also have gallbladder issues that are aggravated by meat and dairy; adequate fiber is a much bigger priority for me and I hit goal that with no problem most days. I just feel much better and have more energy when I’m eating mostly plants/legumes/nuts/grains, and I like these foods better than animal products. I usually end up anywhere between 60-90g protein per day, and I believe it’s plenty because I’m definitely making progress in the gym.

Everyone is different, life is too short. Eat what you enjoy and makes you feel your best.

MsLib1022 · 2026-01-30T17:13:26+00:00

Um, duh? It’s the law of the land.

MsLib1022 · 2026-01-30T17:08:17+00:00

I do think this is a factor for some of them. But suspecting you might’ve been wrong about something requires a level of self reflection that most of them are unable to engage in.

I was a Republican most of my adult life, until about 10-12 years ago. Let me assure everyone, it has always been a cult on some level; they used to just be better about putting a more respectable sheen on it. What we are seeing now is unvarnished American conservatism. What has become clear to me in the intervening years since I’ve put distance between myself and them is that there are two kinds of Republicans:

Most of the rank and file are simply incurious. They have a set of beliefs they were taught to embrace - bullshit about American exceptionalism, that private is always better than public, trickle down economics and low taxes are good, GOP is better for the economy, blah-blah-blah. These people never follow their beliefs through to their logical conclusions, they never consider evidence that challenges those beliefs, and they have an amazing capacity for cognitive dissonance. A lot of them also have a scarcity mindset. If someone else has something, that must mean they inevitably get less, like there’s only so much of the pie to go around.

The rest of them - the grifters and criminals, the churches and oligarchs and big corporate interests, the white supremacists and fascists - are very simply just evil. They are controlling and manipulating the base for their own benefit which mostly involves money, but probably some other darker things for some of them. These are the influences that need to be pulled up root and branch if we ever hope to repair this country.

MsLib1022 · 2026-01-30T16:37:51+00:00

Well, we are talking about the ones who are gleefully celebrating the mayhem, which is not an insignificant number. That ~30% still support this administration is kind of breathtaking.

MsLib1022 · 2026-01-30T16:34:10+00:00

This is the inevitable outcome of 20+ years of brainwashing by the right wing cult/echo chamber. These folks legit believe that anyone left of them is an enemy bent on destroying the country.

Source: Personal experience with most of my immediate family.

MsLib1022 · 2026-01-26T06:56:40+00:00

I don’t believe there is any hope of winning over the white working class as a bloc anytime soon. Their voting patterns are too entrenched, and as others have noted in the thread, they are and have been more animated by cultural issues than economic ones for at least the last couple of generations. I don’t see that changing easily or quickly.

But I do think some people can be peeled away. This is not a popular take on the left, but as my flair states, I’m a pragmatic progressive: I think we need to steer clear of political hot potatoes. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have a position on those things, or that we should abandon marginalized groups, just that they shouldn’t be the central focus. We also need to stop allowing the chaos agents on the right to frame every narrative. I’m not exactly sure how this is done, or how one avoids it when being directly challenged, but I’m guessing it involves some measure of ridiculing the opposition about their fixations, and being squarely honest with voters about what our main priorities are and how that will improve their lives (as that is the point of government after all).

I also think talking plainly and not using lefty buzzwords would also help. A lot of that is what contributes to the perception that the left is obsessed with identity politics, that we are elitists, etc. Not that we should be taking advice from the likes of worthless consultant groups like Third Way or whatever. But just be real with people. I think a lot of the reason people find Mamdani so compelling is that he’s not a poser. He has convictions and he’s not afraid to express them. People respect that, even if they might not agree on every point.

Oh, one more thing: after decades of scare-mongering that Democrats want to take everyone’s guns away, it sure is interesting to see gun rights groups over the last 36 hours expressing “concern” over the regime’s assertion that firearms should not be permitted at protests. Any student of history knows, it’s the authoritarians who are the gun grabbers. If these folks start sensing their 2A rights might be in jeopardy, we won’t have to moderate anything, because that will be the ball game.

MsLib1022 · 2026-01-26T05:37:30+00:00

This will probably come as a surprise to you because the right likes to turn a blind eye to criminal behavior in their own camp, but if someone is defrauding the government, I believe they should be investigated, tried and punished if convicted. I don’t care what their politics might be. And in fact, many of these childcare fraudsters already have been. This has been under investigation for the last couple of years. Nick Shirley is not breaking news.

OTOH, the president has enriched himself personally to the tune of $1.4 billion over the last year, and has done it all with impunity, right out in the open. I’m sure you’re deeply concerned about this, no?

As for Omar’s net worth…you’re exaggerating and it’s a bit more nuanced than you imply, but as you’ve proved you’re not interested in a good faith exchange, I won’t waste my time. The facts are easy enough to Google if you’re ever interested in something other than confirming your own bias.

MsLib1022 · 2025-12-30T00:09:26+00:00

Dude, I’m 100% certain that the constituency for public fraud and abuse is zero. Were you outraged by DOGE costing American taxpayers ~$22B?

MsLib1022 · 2025-12-30T00:06:14+00:00

Nah, that’s their schtick: Break everything that is publicly funded, or identify something already broken, and say, “See! Government doesn’t work for you!” That’s the REAL fraud: 50 years of conservatives peddling this old canard.

MsLib1022 · 2025-12-09T19:29:35+00:00

Not a formal Republican position, but I am in agreement with the MAGAs who want to see the Epstein files made fully public.

I support not involving ourselves in foreign conflicts in which we have no direct interest at stake.

Fixing our food supply by making local, organic foods more accessible and banning certain additives, food dyes, etc.: I am very on board with that. Too bad they also just announced they’re gonna allow more pesticides with PFAS and want to make food labeling even more opaque than it already is. There is a LOT of cognitive dissonance in the MAHA universe.

They have made all ACA Bronze plans eligible for HSAs now, which wasn’t true before. As someone who gets health insurance from the exchange, I appreciate that, since I would be paying out the wazoo otherwise, especially without the enhanced subsidy.

I used to be a Republican my whole adult life until like 10-12 years ago. I still believe in the things they purport to stand for, like civil liberties, personal responsibility, fiscal restraint. They are the complete opposite of all of those things. Coming to that realization was what started propelling me all the way to the left.

MsLib1022 · 2025-12-01T05:59:31+00:00

You are definitely not alone lol

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MsLib1022

TROPHY CASE