Guard Dog

I must say the Battle of Blackwater was suitably epic. Smaller in scale than the book true but quite well done for a TV show with a budget. I've got to say though, they are moving towards tangling some plot lines in such a way they can't be fixed. Don't get me wrong, I like what they are doing even when the vary from the book but some plot threads can't be broken and still have the same story.

Ha, health care is not free under Obama care. It is even more expensive than ever and now everyone is required to buy it. And if you cant afford it you can buy a crappy government plan that the government will then charge everyone else (those with private policies) more (in the form of tax... no fee... no tax) to pay for your cost shortfall. The folks who bought into Obama hoping for that grand ideal of free healthcare bought a big pig in a poke. However, we digress from the story of flesh eating zombies in Miami. Hey, it's the NEW South Beach Diet!

For the past two weeks I have done nothing but fish, read, play with the dogs, and sleep. It has been nice but I'm ready to get back to work now. BTW Lady Crimson, how about them Rays! Tarna your cheerful attitude and strength of will in the face of the most terrible of adversity is nothing short of amazing. I'm praying for you buddy, I wish there was more I could do.

Apparently this guy took a hit of a new form of LSD and freaked out in a way that does not do justice to the term freaked out. Too bad. I've been preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse (actually for the Obamocalypse) for some time and I'm ready. If any of you end up zombified and wander too close to my fortified rual compund off the Hatchee river I promise to be merciful... head shots only.

But it becomes a civil rights issue because married couples are afforded more rights by the state than non-married couples, no? In the case of straight people, you could argue this doesn't matter, because they have the choice to marry and receive those extra rights or not. But in the case of gay people, they have no such choice. Actually they do. No one is preventing them from getting married, just getting married to someone of the same gender. That is the fig leaf that makes this not a civil rights issue. ASFAIK all States support a civil union that grants gay couples equal rights even if the do not call it marriage. Once again that makes it just a word. Not quite. This discriminatory federal-level bill needs to be repealed before it can be claimed that gay marriage is an issue for the states to deal with: http://en.wikipedia....of_Marriage_Act The most effective way to solve this problem in its entirety would be to treat all social contracts related to love between people as either civil unions or de facto partnerships. There should be no de jure recognition of marriage. At all. Yeah I had forgotten about DOMA. It should never have been passed. That is a classic example of right wing big government intrusion. As far as getting the government out of the marriage business all together that is a very interesting suggestion. It makes sense to me but I don't think it will ever happen.

Went fishing for catfish last night. Just got home. Drinking coffee and getting ready for scambled eggs and fried catfish.

Marriage is just a word. Nobody should claim ownership over a word. When you get right down to brass tacks the institution of marriage is a legal contract between two consenting individuals. How some one (or a state government for that matter) can be in favor of civil unions but not marriage escapes me because the two are pretty much the same thing once you remove the word marriage. That said, the President was correct when he stated it is up to the individual states to determine because the regulation and enforcement of contracts is a state responsibility, not a federal one. Nor should it be. It is not a civil rights issue because no one is stopping a gay man or worman from getting married, just not in the way they like. So far some states are allowing it, some are not. I think the trend to allow will continue and in ten years no one will remember why there was so much resistance to the idea to begin with but they will not be forced into it. If a gay couple want to get married I'd say just do it in a state that allows it. Churches may never come around. Some have but most have not and that is unfortunate because the one thing I know for sure is that God loves gay folks every bit as much as everyone else. It is absurd for one human to tell another what they are doing is a sin. If it is then that is between that person and God and no business of anyone else. It is not up to us to cast moral judgements on the other humans in the world. I'm certain I remember reading that in a certain book of Christian reknown. That said no church should ever be compelled to recognize or perform gay marriges even when the rest of the country does come around. They deserve their freedom too. You have all heard me say it many times. The single most important thing in the world is individual liberty. If you are opposed to gay marriage, then don't marry a gay person. Don't attend their wedding, don't send them a gift, etc. But it does not harm you one bit if they do get married so why shoudn't they? We all deserve the freedom to live our lives in the way that suits us best, and as long as they are happy and not hurting anyone else, why does anyone care if they get married? The biggest problem in this world is too many people seem to believe they know best how everyone else should be living their lives. It would be a much happier world if we all just left each other alone. Just my $.02

Hold on... you have a female roomate with whom you are not involved? I'm making a prediction, and you let me know if it comes true. Sooner or later, boyfriend or no you will end up sleeping with her no matter if you want to or not. It cannot help but happen.

That was pretty cool. But the best pics of Russia Ive seen were on this show:http://natgeotv.com/uk/wild-russia That show is great.

Yes I did! And I did it while single handedly fighting the Nombre Malo de los Zetas. Viva la paz y la libertad en del Norte! I was like the three amigos all rolled into one! OOORAH! But in reality I just helped design the wireless backhaul and tried to stay out of trouble.

I happen to know that a good number of mid sized cities on northern Mexico will soon have public wi-fi.

Yeah, I agree, the way they are going with this does not make sense. The whole deal with Robb being set up to fall for Jeyne Westerling was a plot by Tywin Lannister, and a really good one at that. The way they are going about it will likely screw that up. Come to that they appear to be about to screw up Jon's story line too. Is it just me of the TV Jon sort of an idiot, where the book Jon was more pragmatic?

I thought I misread this. I'm not joking when I said I refuse to buy anything that was made in China. Unfortunately that means I don't have much stuff. And what I do have was made by companies I've never heard of. But... at least none of it was made out of people.

I must admit reading Bernard Cornwell books have given me a real appreciation of post Roman Britannia and Dennmark

Sorry to derail a good bit of ill-informed America bashing but I'll be directing the flow of conversation back to the more mundane bits of everyday life. I finally got the house cleaned up and back in order. Since January I've only been here for six weeks this year. I am beat. I am happy to hear about the break up of La Nina. That will probably mean less rain and a lower chance of flooding. Baseball season is back and the Rays are playing great. Speaking of which I got to go to a few LMB games while working in Nuevo Laredo last month. Those folks are nuts about the game. I just lit the grill and I've got cuts of venison shish-ka-bob with peppers, onion, squash and red potato cuts along with a fine bourbon on ice. The dogs are happy to be home, I'm happy to be home, life is good!

I've got to try that!

BTW Krook, your Devils broke my heart. I didn't get to see any of the games, bet I heard some of how it went.

I was sort of fond of a period, just a few years ago when Krezzie wasn't such an angry and bitter dude! My favorite I guess was the Age of Exploration that began with Columbus. But I'd bet Juan Sebastian El Cano would be ticked to know his greatest accomplishment is universally attributed to a man who could not keep his nose of of things that did ot concern him.

Nope that contract is finished. Nobody even tried to kidnap me. I guess word got around I had no money. I'm back home for a while.

I watched the first four episodes on the plane ride home yesterday. They have wandered a little from the books but it is working really well. That guy playing Joffrey is not getting enough credit. It tales real talent to be so unlikable and pull it off so well.

Hi everyone.

I just orderd 27 books for my Kindle. I'll be busy for a while.

Ah he's done. Don't wast any more of your angst on him. You know, I really am surprised you non US folks follow US politics so closely. I watch the politcal battles in other countries too, Canada, Mexico, and the UK in particular but I don't maintain near the degree of interest you guys do in ours. I just find that very curious, if you don't get a vote why do you care? I mean seriously this folks on this forum were 99% in the tank for Obama and after four years aside from the fact he has run up a staggaring amount of debt the US is really not that different. Foreign policy has changed very little from Bush, we have gotten involved in yet another war and appear to be prepping for a fourth since he's come into office. He's had very little effect on the world and US economy which are both actually worse for everyone since he came into office (not that it's his fault, it was happening anyway). The only real social change in the US since he's been in office was allowing gays to serve openly in the military which was inevitable anyway because the "gay stigma" is vanishing from the US culture. And that was also inevitable. I'll tell you a little secret, if Romney wins in November the US will only be slightly different in 2016. A little further right or a little further left but only by the smallest of degrees. A little better off or a little worse off who knows. So I'm genuinely curious, why do you non-US guys care so much about it?