Guard Dog

Unions, PACs, etc all had free reign to run advocacy ads. This ruling just levels the playing field. Like Enoch said, a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. I think it was nuts for clowns like NY Senator Charles Schumer to label this "Judicial Activisim". #1 is't not. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.. Seems to me the activist position was the minority. They ruled that the right to free speech did not apply to everyone, just those who filed the proper paperwork with the government for it (PACs). #2 Since when did that S.O.B Schumer think judicial activisim was a bad thing?

Who would have thought the Jets would shut down th Chargers like that. You could tell they were frustrated by all of the stupid penalites they were drawing. Well, Kelverin, at least spring training starts in five weeks. Oh... wait. Thats not good news for you either.

Here is a tragedy to compound a tragedy. The Port Au Prince airport is having to turn way planes full of food, medical supplies, search and rescue teams, etc because they can't get the planes on the ground unloaded and there is no fuel to refuel the outbound planes. What a complete mess. They need AvGas and loading equipment more than anything else. Forget the canned goods, anyone got a spare forklift?

I'm pulling for the Cardinals but I do think the Saints will win. Unlike Green Bay last week, the Saints can actually play defense. Indy will win over the Ravens but I expect Balitmore will put a scare into them. Vikings will defeat the Cowboys. The Bolts will make short work of the Jets.

Back in the middle ages, when the patriarchal power structure was even more powerful than it is now, being fat was considered as beautiful among women. I don't know about beautiful but I think it was a sign of wealth. I remeber reading that somewhere.

Actually it is really easy to get sucked into computer games. Back when I was going through my divorce I spent a lot of time playing Baldur's Gate I & II, Torment, KOTOR, and NWN. I had also just lost my business so I had a lot of time on my hands and to top it all off I was drinking....heavily. Not like now but serious, self-medicating drinking. It got to the point where Bastila, Viconia, Fall-From-Grace and all of those others characters started to seem more real to me than actual people I knew. But I got through that pretty quickly. The one thing I will say is that little distraction (ok, BIG distration) probably kept me sane in some pretty bad times. Paraphrasing Homer Simpson "Computer games give us so much... and ask for so little!" Hmmmm I haven't played FO3 in a while, I wonder if any new mods are out...

I think that going with a Bourbon would defeat the point, to a certain degree. Bourbons are American products-- Shryke is talking about duty-free shopping in the UK, so presumably he's looking for recommendations on booze from Ol' Blighty. (Also, Wild Turkey Rye > Wild Turkey Bourbon.) @Shryke, if you're focused on a blend, the high-end Johnny Walkers are very good. Or, among Irish whiskeys, try Midleton. Very smooth (but very pricey). Ditto what Enoch said. If you must have blended try Johnny Walker Blue Label or Glenfiddich. Do not ask her for bourbon, it's not English and Enoch said. Plus if it did not come from the state of Kentucky, it will suck. England makes at least 1000 different brands of Gin, but I've never been a big fan of that spirit. My choice for Scotch (admittedly not a big drinker of that either) is hands down Isle of Skye single malt by Talisker. It's rich and spicy and goes really great with cigars. It's a little hard to come by where I live now but in Miami imports were more common and I had it a few times. Thats my $.02.

I donated! I wish I could do more.

I bought a new XM radio today. It should get here in a week. The anticipation is just killing me. Not. So anyway, I'm playing this cheap (and lousy) computer game called "Art of Murder". The protaginist is a female FBI agent. The thing is, she is starting to show up in my dreams at night. I waited too late in life to stop drinking I think. Too many missing brain cells, it's like trying to run a big company after all the middle management quits. At least she is hot, as computer characters go: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Murder-FBI-Confi...0694&sr=1-3

That man never had an original thought in his life. How he has cobbled together a career with so little ability is certainly a mystery to me.

The Cards-Packers game was nothing less than epic. Kudos to Green Bay for not rollling over the way the Bengals did. I'm pulling for the Cards the rest of the way. But, they better find a way to play defense before next weekend. If they give up 45 points to New Orelans then they're done.

mmmmm..... boneless chicken breast marinated in pinapple juice & teriyaki, cooked on a Foreman for 6 minutes. Served with a grilled pinapple slice (also cooked on George) and papaya salsa and steamed white rice. Good stuff!

Just got home. No sale on that place in Covington. The foundation is sagging and that place needs more $$ to fix than anyone would ever pay for it. The only thing that can help that house is a match and a few ounces of gasoline. No time to worry about that though, I've got a date tonight and it's snowing pretty steady so I gotta leave a little early.

Covington is a VERY small town in west central TN. It is notable for only three things, the largest Truck Stop west of Nashvill on US 51, its the county seat of Tipton County and the western headquarters of the Tenn Fish & Game Service, and hunting and fishing in the Hatchie River and Anderson Tully management area. This place is locaed pretty close to both so I was hoping with the right kind of fix up it might be attractive to a hunting club. Otherwise this place is rual and to call it poor would be accurate. I was also looking at a 900 sq ft place in Bartlett that needed some work. They are asking $160k. Gotta research that one some more.

Bengals over the Jets: Sorry Jets, you have to play against the starters this week! Dallas over Philly: Funny line of the week came from a caller to the Herd the ESPN Radio morning show "Andy Reid couldn't spell excellence if you spotted him the consanants and told him to buy a vowel!" Pats over the Ravens: I do think the Ravens can win this game but it's hard to go against Bellicheck and his boys in January. Cards over the Packers: Arizona finds a way to win when they really have to. I know tha matchup favor Green Bay but my gut is telling me otherwise this week.

He was way more liberal than most Christians these days. Folks really need to lay off the whole old testament you'll-burn-in-hell schtick and get down with the judge not..., do unto others... program. Ol' J was all about the love. New Testament 4 Life. This.

I had to do a little research to even find out who owned it so my offer to buy was out of the blue for sure. I think he figures since I approached him the seller sets the price. The truth is it's worthless to him and I think he figures it's worth something to me so he's playing a little hardball. However, he's wrong, this is one of those things that might be nice but no big deal if it dosen't happen. Either way, $9K is all I can pay without mortgaging the lot and I don't want to do that. I explianed my reasons and the issues with the property. He told me he'd think it over. Whatever heppens, happens. I am looking to do a little real estate investing this year anyway. I was looking at a house in Covington that was on sale for only $20k on a 220X140 lot (about average sized). In good shape it's worth about $70k but this place hasn't seen "good shape" since before the turn of the century. I'm going to meet the realtor up there tomorrow to see what all is wrong. Maybe I can fix it up. I've gotten pretty good at that kind of thing over the past few years.

Just my $.02 but from what you said she sounds very comfortable over facebook, IMs/etc but not so much face to face. It sounds like she is not accustomed to dealing with real people who are right in front of her. I've heard this is becoming fairly common amonst younger people, girls in particular. It is more likely that she is self concious of her own social skills rather than anything you are doing wrong. If that is the case then I suggest double dating with two of yours or her friends to take some of the pressure off of her. See how that works then try for some alone time afterwards. Above all keep it light and fun especially in the beginning. There will be plenty of time for heavy relationship stuff later.

Not Vinyard, Moonshine! Good Tennessee river bottom land, that is what its good for. I'll plant corn and sorgum for the mash up by the house and build a still by the river! Kidding of course. I would like to build a dock to fish from plus the plot is a natrual flood barrier for Cold Creek and I'd like to ensure it never gets developed which would increase the chance of my place flooding. I sent him a email explaing why I was not going to meet his price and how I came up with 9K. Another 10 acre plot closer to Raliegh Millington Pike (the nearest hard road) sold for $4800 per last November. And it is ready to build. This patch of dirt has the river and the Hatche Management area on one side, and me on the other. He cannot develop the lot unless I grant an easement for utility access and if he is a total A-Hole about this I will not be inclined to ever do that.

Most excellent Mes!

Now reading The African Queen by CS Forrester. He is really famous for his Horatio Hornblower novels but this one was he best in my opinion. It never recieved much love even after it was made into an excellent movie by the same name in the '50s. Also reading Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. There is just something about Papa Hemingways stories that I have always found appealing.

Last month I made an offer to buy a small (2 acre) plot of land next to me. I heard nothing for months then today got a counter. It's wooded, isolated, has no hard road access or utility access unless I grant an easement, and to top it all of it's not even level (not by a long shot). I offered $9K, $4500 per acre. That is more than generous because lots without all of those issues are going for that price. The owner countered with $14K. He can go pound sand for that price. Oh well. Cold Creek runs along it's entire southern border and thats where I go fishing and I had a few ideas for that land.

Apparently I missed out on the best parts of Mkrekus posts. But from what I glean from whats left he made a nonsensical argument by taking my example to an extreme and using the exteme to disqualify my argument (that is actually what a "strawman" is by the way). I could counter by saying that since he is in favor of gay marriage he must also in favor of an adult male marrying a young boy since after all they are both male. You see the problem here Mkreku? No, you probably don't. This thread has grown pretty tiresome for me so this will be my last post and I'll end it but saying this: There are two kinds of people in this world. One group desires nothing more than to live their lives as best they can in peace and with the freedom to do what makes them happy. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I am certain I've read that somewhere. The second group is watching the first group in a trembling rage because the first group, in the process of living their lives, is doing something the people in the second group don't like. The people in the second group will do anything to force the people in the first group to behave in a way they think they should. They will use rhetoric, laws, guns, they will strap on bombs and blow themselves up. The people in the second group are a pretty disparate bunch, from the religious zealot burning an abortion clinic, to the muslim terrorist, to the lone nut job banging away on his computer keyboard (Mkreku, Oblarq, LoF). The one thing they all have in common is they think they know better how you should be living your life than you do. And nothing makes them madder that when you deny them, or disagree with them. Most of it is pretty tame. They just use language to insult and belittle. Notice the really insulting posts in the two communist threads have been directed at those who oppose communisim or follow a religion. But it is just a very small step to shooting and that is why the worst atrocities in history are comitted by the people in group 2. Small wonder they are so attracted to totalitarian styles of governance like communisim and it's ugly kid sister socialisim. No thanks, not for me.

Hunting, self defense, target shooting, collecting (I have three antiques one of which saw actual service with the Union Navy during the Civil War, it is priceless). I don't like this whole conept of someone else telling me "No you can't do/have/say/think/read/believe this thing because "I" don't think you should!" You are simply imposing you will or morality on someone else using the law as a means of forcible coercion. If you are oppsed to firearm ownership, don't buy one. It is not for you to tell somone else what they can or cannot do. Personally I am against abortion but I do not think it should be illegal. I think it's immoral and would not participate in one without medical necessity but I believe everyone must decide for themselves what is right or wrong for them. If someone else decided to get one I would not stop them and I would try tp prevent someone else from stopping them even though I believe it's wrong. Personal freedom is the single most important thing in the world. We MUST all be free to choose our own path in life, even if it leads to ruin. Suppose i decided that the internet is a dangerous and immoral thing and that no one should have free unrestricted access to it? Now suppose I had the political power to impose that morality on everyone else, and did so? Do you think that would be a good thing? Even if you did not use the internet would it be a good thing? Try to cram this concept into that narrow little closed mind of yours, totalitarianisim is not much fun when you find yourself on the recieving end of it. And sooner or later, everyone under it does. Communisim IS totalitarian. Even Marx said it must be inescapable. Those fences and walls in Europe were meant to keep people in, not out. I strongly suggest you think about that.

Ok, you guys can just forget about Gun Control. The SCOTUS took that up in 2007 in DC v. Heller. The Court held that "the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. The Court based its holding on the text of the Second Amendment, as well as applicable language in state constitutions adopted soon after the Second Amendment." Stare decisis. That is settled law. The government is not going to come take everyones guns away unless the hold a match to the Constitution first. It will be a generation or more before that issue is taken up again. The previous Gun Control ruling was in 1938. So forget about gun control. It will never happen. http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2007/2007_07_290