okerry

See, I'm not entirely sure I agree. It's definitely a horrorshow, but I'm okay with that if they show us how people can deal with it/over come it - especially the family members who are at the mercy of real monsters like Steven. For most of us who lead relatively normal lives, it's hard to believe that there are families who live like this one or like James's family. But they do. I don't blame TLC for showing this; they didn't create it and I think we are only seeing what's in front of the camera. I don't think they're making it look any worse than it is and indeed, it may be even worse than this. Families can and do blackmail each other and hold each other hostage. Addicts are horrific for this. If this kind of show is what it takes to truly get across the torment and suffering that families go through from drug addicts - including and especially prescription drug addicts like Steven - then I'm all for it. Maybe something finally will be done.

And one good thing about shows like this one is that they document exactly *why* things have got to change.

She earned it for putting up with Steven!

so they did send a psychologist, but he refuses to see them? He's a major drug addict, too hate to say it, but some people can't be helped - James was one and this is another one.

haha Justin you snitch!

lolol "You gonna have to shape up in Texas!"

Still think there's some degree of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome at work here with both of them - literal brain damage. Thanks, Mom!

Best thing for Steven? Bring him 20 pizzas a day, a dozen chocolate cakes, and plenty of bottles of Jack. This would mercifully be over soon and no one else would be tormented by him ever again.

ok, mom's an alkie - maybe we're dealing with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome here -

1) Where's Mom, and 2) How the hell did they grow up like this??

thinking this one is actually mentally ill, and not "just" an addict

I think James is like methadone for Lisa - there's no high, just the prevention of going through the pain of withdrawal. Of having to change your life. No high, no withdrawal, just day after day of not feeling good/not feeling (that) bad. As long as she doesn't confront him, she doesn't have to go through even more abuse or the chaos and effort of trying to start over. Methadone.

It could be that the film crew knows the best way they can help Lisa is to document the abuse and put it out there for the world to see, which is exactly what they did. And yes, I think you're exactly right when it comes to James's opinion on females. Slave, indeed.

You are so right about that. I've seen other abusers do that, too. One day their victim looks up and realizes that they have absolutely no one to lean on for support of any kind, except the abuser. And you gotta hand it to James - maybe this is what he means about being so effective with "the female persuasion." He's managed to totally isolate Lisa from every last one of her friends and family, and his shitty ass (literally) can't even get out of bed. If ever there was abuse personified, it's James.

They don't. That was recreated for the cameras, so WE would know what they do every day.

But you see, this is exactly what Twitney WANTS you to say. And I guarantee you we will never, ever ever see her do "LOTS of practice." Because, just like anyone else, there's a chance she might fail. So she'll never even try. She'd rather have viewers saying things like the comment above and then LEAVE IT AT THAT. Because that's SAFE. She gets praised and excused and doesn't have to do another freakin' thing. No risk of failure. No risk of exertion or other hard work. THIS is all she wants. I am a writer and I see this constantly in the writing field - everybody wants to be published and rich, you know. They might manage to write a little bit and a few of their friends praise them to the skies and say, "Wow, think about what you could do if you finished that story!" The "writer" spends the next 20 years or more living on the praise those few pages get them and never write another thing. But they constantly talk about how great they could be if only they could find the time! Twitney is exactly the same way. And she's being even more vastly rewarded for failing at everything and putting in 1% effort - it's gotten her a TV show and fame and money and praise (from idiots) and more money. It should be called, "My Big Fat Fabulous Half-Assed Life."

It's exactly as another poster said: The huge bills that some of us are stuck with all go to cover the people who cannot and will not pay. Some people use the ER and hospital services at will and then happily allow others to go bankrupt and lose their homes struggling to pay the astronomical bills that include what OTHERS have run up. To keep this remotely on topic: Monsters like James are some of the very worst offenders. They are hopeless addicts who bleed the system dry and care nothing for the people they hurt physically, emotionally, and financially. And it's not just their own families. I would not dare go to an ER myself because I'm not on disability or anything else, and could never pay the obscene amount I'd be charged because it includes the tab that James and many others like him are running up and will never, ever pay a penny towards.

Without reading any of the other posts: Whit ought to stick to belly dance. She really didn't look bad for a lot of it. Having said that, I can see why she refuses to practice. That way, if/when she messes up, she's got an excuse. I think she's one of those people who is actually terrified of real success, because if you're seen to be good at something people will expect you to do it again - and will criticize you even more strongly if you fail. She does not want to be successful. That's too much responsibility. She just wants attention without responsibility. Real dancers have enough respect for their art to PRACTICE.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I suspect that in some cases of very fast remarriage - whether after a death or a divorce - the person is desperately trying to recreate what they had in that marriage. After a death, especially, it doesn't always go so well. Better to wait a while.

omg . . . makes me cynical and sad to hear that. So much for true love. It used to be that people would at least wait "a decent interval" out of respect for the dead, but not anymore.

wowwwww . . . I guess that'll teach 'em how easily replaced they really are! And this time HGTV's got reserves in case somebody else messes up their life and show, lol!

woah! Looks like HGTV has replaced Tarek and Christina! http://www.hgtv.com/shows/flip-or-flop-vegas/meet-aubrey-and-bristol-marunde-pictures

Great question. I'd say it will be allowing ourselves to become a nation of obese wimps who spend all their time on the phone and on-line, living vicariously through others and destroying our health with junk food, alcohol, and drugs. So ya'll get off this here computer and go outside for a while, so yer great-grandkids ain't ashamed of ya! ;)

Because fruit is actually full of simple sugars (simple carbs.) That's why diabetics are told to drink orange juice if they feel like their blood sugar is dropping too low. It's as good as candy for raising blood sugar.

oh, definitely. Not alone. But high-protein, low-carb is a tremendous help, whereas mass quantities of carbs are entirely defeating the purpose and making things far worse.