Guard Dog

You're getting old Wals, I bet 10 years ago you could have put away twice as much and held it all in. I'm in the same boat though. Heck when I was in the Marines I could roll in blasted drunk at 0200 and still make it to PT by 0530 and then finish the daily dozen and the 5 mile run in formation. Now if I wake up hungover I'm useless until after lunch.

The company Christmas party is today at the Peabody Hotel of all places. After that I'm going on vacation until January. Our company is a small one and our team is pretty tight knit so this will be enjoyable I think. My last company was huge and the work enviorment was somewhat hostile so it makes for an uncomfortable party.

We're not attacking atheisim, we're attacking you because your comment was nasty, condescending, and insulting. You do that a lot these days. As for as souls, a far as I'm concered my dogs have souls so I'm quite sure all the early forebears of humans did too. You seem to be under the misguided impression that christianity is a monolithic institution and every member conforms to the exact dogma you've decided it has. It's not. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go bang some rocks together or bomb an abortion clinic or whatever us non-people do.

I am hoping you mean on the internet. I will defend the virtues of organized religion until I'm blue in the face, but I'm also very aware thatthey have plenty of foaming at the mouth folks of their own. Oh no arguments there. However in my own experience I find atheists are far more militant and will deliberatly turn a conversation to religion for the sole purpose of belittling or even outright insulting what they see as their "intellectual inferiors". Take Krezacks example right here in this thread. Does the article he posted mention religion or evolution in any way? No, yet it was the very first thing he comes up with and he did it in the most offensive and insulting way possible. But what do I know. According to him I'm not a person because I don't think like he does.

So... anyone want to bet this guy ends up dying of a 9mm brain tumor before long?

Now reading Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero by Micheal Hingson. He is a blind man who worked on the 76th floor of the North Tower of the WTC on 9-11. His guide dog Roselle led him and a lot of other people out after the plane hit.

Krez, I'm beginning to think there is no hope for you. How can a man that enjoys his Mary Jane be so angry and hostile all the time? To follow up on the rest of the discussion, I find that atheists proselytize far more aggresively and are far less tolerant of other people that any other group. Taking myself as an example, I am a Christian. I believe in God and Jesus without any doubt. I have never called anyone else (not even Krezack) stupid for not thinking as I do, or suggested that anyone else should believe as I do or tried to convince anyone here else that I'm right and they're wrong about faith. Neither has any of the other christians on this board that I've ever seen. Now the atheists on this board, almost to a man, that is a whole different story and, bad as he is, Krez is not even the worst.

Panthers finally get a win last night, breaking a six game skid. Too bad it was in OT, it would have been better to deny the Canes a point.

That's it, this thread is over. Virumor wins.

Well, I'm divorced with no kids, and no family except a brother I talk to maybe once a month that lives on the other side of the country so Christmas is not a big deal to me. But I do put up a tree and get into it a little bit. I buy toys and goodies for the dogs and this year I'm making smoked venison jerky treats for them. I don't drink that much any more so there isn't much chance I'll end up drunk or anything. If the weather is nice I'll probably spend the day outside with the football games on my XM radio. Plus this year I donated $1k to St. Jude Childrens Hospital and I went to Toys R Us and bought $150 worth of stuff to donate to Toys for Tots. But I do that every year. It does make me feel like I'm getting sombody something for Christmas.

YOU ARE LoF! I KNEW IT!!!!! I'm kidding of course. Grow a sense of humor Krez. If it makes you feel any better my car is many months and thousands of dollars away from me even starting it, let alone wasting gas with it. So my evil plans for single handedly desolating the globe are on hold for now. Oh, and I did put my empty beer bottles in the recycle bin, just for you. I didn't want you to think I don't care just because you post fruity and irrational things!

Is that it? You're not even going to bother asking yourself if what I said might have some truth? If maybe the immense waste and consumption associated with Christmas is a worrying excess that people should start taking responsibility for? Never said it did. I was weighing in with a different perspective on why Christmas isn't such a good thing. Krez, I get the feeling you will go through your entire life with a scowl on your face because somewhere, someone is doing something you disapprove of and is enjoying it. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go drink a lot of beer whose bottles I won't recycle and work on rebuilding my 1969 muscle car which will get really lousy fuel consumption and pollute the atmosphere every time I gun the engine...which will be often! Merry Christmas!

I just got home from a date. Wow, what a babe. She's tall has fire red hair, green eyes, likes beer, baseball & muscle cars. I think I'm in love. She hasn't passed the "dog" test yet maybe soon. She's a college professor. I have not had much luck dating teachers (sorry Hurlie, the women teachers I've met are a pretty disagreeable lot). She's divorced with no kids and thankfully the conversation did not linger on ex's. Pretty good night all the way around. How'd you do with your girl Nep?

That was part of the Glass-Stengal Act, passed after the '29 crash to prevent that from happening again. Clinton repealed it when he signed the Gramm-Leach-Biely Act into law. 10 years later the banks crashed again. Go figure.

Where are you in the US (if you don't mind me asking)? Tennessee, I work in Memphis but I live about 40 miles north of there. I love Tennessee. Was stationed in Millington ~91 for "A" school and met some of the nicest people anywhere. Good times on Beale street too. I remember this one bar right outside the base where every Wednesday was "All you can drink night" for $7.00, yes seven dollars. Crazy bastages. I was there in '89 & '90. That bar you're thinking of was Sonny & Sher's. Abour 1/2 mi south of the main gate. It's long gone I'm afraid to say. So is the base. The VA runs the hospital and there is a small reserve compound & recruiting center. The Northside air field is a private airport now. Millington shrunk since you last saw it. And it was never big to begin with. Morrie's pub is still here believe it or not. I stop by every once in a while when I'm feeling nostalgic.

Hmmm, ok I might be a little rusty in my European history but didn't Belgium fight a brief revolution to seperate itself from the Netherlands? Not what I'd call a contrived state created by outside powers following a treaty.

Where are you in the US (if you don't mind me asking)? Tennessee, I work in Memphis but I live about 40 miles north of there.

Now reading Walden by Thoreau. Not for nothing is it one of the most influential works of all time.

They don't. Some do, in some form, but not most, and not in this manner. In terms of language, culture and shared history I think it's fair to say many are that old. In terms of governments, no they are not of course.

I think my favorite thing to do is sit on my porch now and watch the sun set. There is something so dramatic about the change between night and day that you never notice unless you sit down and really watch it. The way the bird calls change as the night birds come out and the day birds nest up. Crows change their caws right around sunset. Sounds seems to carry better, you can hear dogs barking on far distant farms, owls that roost down on the riverbanks, barges on the Mississippi. Then after the last bit of orange has bled from the sky you can see stars by the tens of thousands, as well as jupiter and saturn and mars making their way across the sky. It is the most amazing show and it is put on just for me every night. I've gotta tell you, I will never live in a city again.

No it's not. Agreed. Nations are supposed to be about more than arbitrary lines on a map. There should be something that unites the people who live there like a common language, culture, core of beliefs. Nations that are artificial constructs that are forced together inevitably collapse. Yugoslavia comes to mind as an example. Don't get me wrong, the EU as an economic free trade zone/alliance makes a lot of sense. That is a very different thing than taking the full plunge as I have alwys thought the ultimate goal of the powers that be in the EU had in mind. Asking nation states that date back to the era of Rome to give up their national sovreignty to a European "super-state" is asking for too much. I know I'd oppose any such a thing here in North America. With arms if need be.

Hey Krook, Devils at Panthers tonight, it's gonna be a good one. On the lighter side, the rats are back! http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/florida...0,4452838.story

I have a firm rule that I stick too; never mix your booze types. If you start with whiskey, stick with it. If you start with beer or wine, finish with it. An if you do switch (sometimes it IS necessary) don't alternate back and forth. Like we say here in the South "You dance with the one that brung ya!"

Jet Propulsion Labs (the company that runs most of the unmanned projects) has an excellent web site for Voyager 1 & 2. http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/

Watching hockey & football and drinking Sam Adams. Now thinking about buying a new TV.