Guard Dog

No it is likely hopeless. I don't really like Schultz anyway. He's just the least bad option right now. But when it comes to voting if you find both the Democrats and Republicans to be equally vile and repugnant where else do you turn? Voting for the lesser evil is still voting for evil. Trump is President today because enough people convinced themselves "well at least he isn't Hillary Clinton". If she had won the reverse would be true. Neither of them possessed any virtues that would convince you they would make a good President. For what it's worth no one currently running would make a good President either but one of these fools is going to get elected God help us.

Let's see.... Trump is promising more of the same. The Democrats are promising big government shoved right up our butts. Joe Biden is just going to touch our butts... the female one''s at least. Howard Schultz is promising to cut the spending, reduce debt and we all get a coffee with our name on the cup. The choice is clear... at this point at least.

China is going out of it's way to promote "masculinity" in boys to counter K-Pop influence. https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-china-masculinity-pop-idols-backlash-20190426-story.html Well, we all know this is a tempest in a teapot. Fads come and go. People grow out of the things they think are cool. The more you try to force a behaviour the more "backlash" you are like to get. Just ask my parents!

I guess Joe Biden wouldn't be a terrible President. Irrelevant though. The angry left will never forgive him for being white and old.

I'm enjoying my third glass of Garrison Brothers Whiskey. It's a Texas version of good ole Kentucky sour mash. It has a much more robust taste than regular bourbon. The whiskey "burn" is pronounced and the aftertaste has definite notes of cinnamon. I guess at least. I've lost my ability to taste somewhere between this glass and the last. Can't wait to see what happens after glass four.

Have you ever come home and found your wife rearranged the house while you were away? And you don't like it? Kinda how I felt coming to the board just now

5/29 I'm taking my best friend Sunny to a ballgame. I just bought our tickets. RedBirds vs San Antonio Missions. It's Woof Wednesday!

You are not making an accurate comparison. The gun laws in no carry townships of the "old west" and pretty much everywhere else are not dissimilar to what we have today. It is pretty settled the that the right to "bear" arms does not extend to carrying them around openly or concealed. At least so far as the 2nd Amend is concerned. That leaves it up to each state to figure out who can carry what and why so long as there is no prohibition of owning one altogether (thank you Heller & MacDonald) . I'm cool with that. The 10th Amendment is tied with 23 others as my favorites (the 3rd is a solution to a problem we don't have anymore and the 17th & 18th were both mistakes IMO). In my state you need a permit to carry concealed. Same in 44 of the others. Who gets a permit and why is up to the people of that state. In Tombstone you had to "check yer iron" when you got into town but you didn't have to worry about the Earps kicking down your door to take them away from you for no reason at all when you were home. Or not giving them back to you when you leave. THAT is what has gotten the ball rolling in the "2nd Amendment Sanctuary City" movement in Colorado. A new state law empowering the police to do exactly that that a third of the state's Sheriffs have stated they will not follow. And good for them I'd say. They would get my vote. I'm a little surprised you would rather have seen McDonald vs Chicago go the other way. If i understand correctly (damn it Jim I'm an engineer not a lawyer) that was the decision that confirmed the 2nd Amend was incorporated. You tread on dangerous ground when you start giving legislatures the power to determine what rights are rights and how they may be enjoyed and by whom. Nearly every act of a legislative body is a limitation on liberty rather than an enhancement of it.

Agreed. I wish HBO and the mass market hadn't discovered this series until it was finished. GRRM is the victim of his own success. He does not deal well with pressure and the success of this series has him under tremendous pressure to make it perfect. What he forgot was that when it was one man telling his story to a few readers is when it was at it's best.

This would be a lot better if the Rays didn't just get swept at home by the Red Sox https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2831460-mlbs-quirkiest-new-age-team-is-leaving-yankees-red-sox-in-their-dust?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_medium=referral

US REP Seth Moulton has entered the Democratic field bringing the total to 19: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/seth-moulton-massachusetts-congressman-and-iraq-war-vet-jumps-into-2020-presidential-race. I say we put all of them in a room with the nomination tied at the top of a 8' rope. Whomever can climb up there an get it get's nominated! Mexican soldiers have detained and disarmed two US Soldiers on the US side of the border. Technically an act of war. Of course it was a mistake on Mexico's part. But hey, it's not like there is a huge river marking the border or something. Oh... wait... https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mexican-troops-drew-weapons-on-american-soldiers-on-u-s-side-of-the-border Apparently even entering Thailand's waters illegally is punishable by death: https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/19/asia/thai-sea-home-us-bitcoin-trader-scli-intl/index.html Waiting for the Democrats to protest this draconian immigration policy... still waiting... I think this is awesome: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-second-amendment-sanctuary-county-movement-illinois-20190416-story.html. Sanctuary cities for illegals, guns, pot, whatever, I'm in favor of all of it. The goddamned governments in this f-----g country are out of control. Defiance should be applauded.

GoT did a major callback to the books tonight. I'm pleasantly surprised seeing how late in the story the TV show is. Prediction: "Who is Jenny of Oldstones" is going to be the #1 google search by tomorrow morning.

You keep saying governments have the right to rape, kill, murder, shoot and burn you at the stake for not paying taxes. Since that doesn't apply to any Western nation that I know of I can only assume you mean Canada, right? I was going to say I don't know about rape but there was this one TSA agent at the airport in DFW....

That was meant to be funny. People around this country bitch when they see white people eating in Mexican restaurants or wearing a kimono, etc. That just struck me as funny. I have a odd sense ot humor I guess.

Time for some good old fashioned cultural appropriation! https://news.yahoo.com/latin-pop-us-grooving-more-more-spanish-010456904.html

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. And they said unto them, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen" Happy Easter everyone! Is it inappropriate to drink beer while watching a ball game today? Asking for a friend.

In 1789 the idea of maintaining a standing army when a war was unlikely was just impractical. The US Army didn't resemble anything like today until the after the Civil War. The Air Force was really small back in those days!

Contrast post 146 & 147. I'm making a kitchen table and chairs using only tools that have been around more than 4k years. Raithe is 3D printing stuff. Here are two guys going in completely opposite directions!

Whelp... had to happen eventually. The are officially out of ideas: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/star-studded-all-family-jeffersons-live-event-set-at-abc-1203282

Changing the subject with a funny pic: Couple of caveats. The pic is from 2005 and Clinton is misquoted from 2013. She actually said more business leaders should run for office because maybe they can be rented but not bought. (Meaning they are already independently wealthy and should be less corruptible. She was trying to be humorous). She never mentioned Trump or anyone else by name in that exchange. Still... how did that work out all around? Sh lost and the billionaire business leader turned out to be quite dishonest

So what you're saying is... it's actually a very good idea? I wonder how many countries wouldn't be veritable ****holes today if the US military wasn't so effective. As for "wanting" to be there, it'd be interesting to know how many people who enlist want to be thrown into a war zone, as opposed to how many would rather just have a stable job with literally zero experience required, affordable tuition rates and the rest of the perks that come with wearing the uniform. An incompetent military makes a bigger mess of things. If they have their s--t together they will screw up a s--thole in far less time. As for your second point anyone who signs up knows there is a risk. Especially the ones who join during wartime. I had been in the Corps a year and a half when Iraq invaded Kuwait. when i joined the US had not been in any major conflicts in nearly 15 years. Small stuff like Grenada were to be expected. When Desert Shield started and we were prepping to deploy I was nervous as hell but a little excited too. Of course had I any inkling where I would actually end up I guess I wouldn't have been. But your point is spot on mostly. I didn't join to go fight, I joined to go to college. And while I was happy to do my part for the Red White and Blue it wasn't my primary motivation. Of course, no general ever woke up an said "what the hell we'll just go invade somebody today". The real blood is on the hands of the politicians who start fights.