Guard Dog

I hope you don't mean that as the Congressman, I think he was a member of Congress, was completely incorrect and thus the statement was both asinine and rude. Sure, let politicians call each-other out - but not while they're delivering formal addresses. I agree, that was inappropriate. I also thought it was very inappropriate when the Dems all loudly booed GWB back in 2006 during his State of the Union address but I notice nobody got in a snit over that. Talk about a double standard.

What the bloody hell Tampa?! What kinda halfassed effort was that? And what the hell Coach Morris? Didn't you bother to do any tackling drills in training camp? Did you actually see Jackson running all out with seven (FREAKING SEVEN) Bucs defenders all around him for almost 20 yards, not one could bring him down. Just how many tackles do you guys plan on missing this year? And do we even have an O-line??? I did not see any evidence of it. Oh I saw a bunch of fat guys wearing the right numbers, although I thought they must be receivers because the freaking Bills D-linemen were always behind them. And Leftwich you miserable piece of $hit, you need to spend a little time with a bag of footballs and a tire hanging from a tree. We are all getting a little sick of seeing your wobbly passes sail over everyones heads, fall behind them by ten feet or wost of all bounce before getting there. Freaking Windslow and Stoval, do you know what the sideline is? Leftwich is a rotten QB but when he actually does get it to you and you do actually catch it you need to GET BOTH FREAKING FEET IN BOUNDS. It's a good thing I didn't eat lunch today, I doubt I could've kept it. Next week is supposed to be throwback week. How apporpriate, the way these guys are playing the orange and white will look just right. /rant

Watched football and baseball since 11 am! Will continue to do so until 2-3 am. Direct TV Sunday ticket replays the days games all night so you can see the ones you missed. Ahhh DirecTv, you understand me better than my wife ever did.... and you don't cost near as much! Oh, and I've been drinking since I got up. It's a strange feeling to go from buzzed, to drunk, to back to buzzed. It's like runners high but for drinkers. Either that of my liver gave out.

The gentleman duels with the saber. I mean it would be amusing but also over pretty fast with a MAC 10. Gentlemen? I thought we were talking about politicians here. @Aram, here you go:

Our politics used to be a lot more interesting. In fact, duels were not uncommon between politicians back in the 19th century. Ah, if only we could do that now. Democrats don't believe in gun ownership so there would not be so many of them around. Kidding of course!

Be careful Kaftan. I had the sense to break up with my last GF when she began having these conversations with me. I've been married once and I can't honestly say I'd reccomend the experience.

Some chicks dig party guys. Plus who the hell can even guess what you told her.

Marlins win, Phillies lost. Sweet.

Done!

Carolina @ Atlanta: Yikes, six turnovers last week for the Panthers. Falcons win. Minnesota @ Detroit: Detroit is about to get it's first win in two years. They are due. Lions win Cincinnati @ Green Bay: Packers are hot, Bengals are not. Packers win Arizona @ Jacksonville: Jags gave up almost 400 yards ti Indy last week. Ugh. Cardinals win. Oakland @ Kansas City: Oakland was not terrible last week but KC will win. Chiefs win. New England @ NY Jets: Are the Jets for real? No. Patriots win. New Orleans @ Philadelphia: No Mcnabb? Who dat? Saints win. Houston @ Tennessee: Old Houston team vs new houston team. Oilers (Titans) win. St. Louis @ Washington: Rams are terrible. Redskins win. Tampa Bay @ Buffalo: Bucs do have a good running game. Everything else leaves something to be desired. Bills win. Seattle @ San Francisco: 49ers came to play last week but Seahawks will win. Pittsburgh @ Chicago: Cutlers woes continue with Pittsburgh in town. Steelers win. Cleveland @ Denver: Denver is just ok, Browns don't even know who their QB is gonna be. Broncos win. Baltimore @ San Diego: I had SD penciled in to be in the AFC Championship. Not so sure after that game last week. Ravens win. NY Giants @ Dallas: Game of the week. Giants win. Indianapolis @ Miami: Indy has played poorly in Miami over the years. Dolphins rebound with the win.

Okay kiddes after week one here are the rankings: Volo 12-4 Kelverin: 12-4 GD: 11-5 Enoch: 9-6

Red Sox have been unbeatable lately. Hard to believe they were in a free fall just a month ago. Marlins picked up an epic win, 4 runs in the top of the 9th against the Reds. Getaway day today in Cinncinati then it's back home for the Phillies, screw football I'm watching that! Gonna be BIG!

For Fiction (in no particular order): Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy Moby **** Herman Mellville The Sea Wolf Jack London Animal Farm George Orwell The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck The Killer Angels Michael Sharra Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway Shogun James Clavell Fields of Fire James Webb The Lord of the Rings JRR Tolkien Dune (series) Frank Herbert (and sons and others) To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand The Man Who Would Be King Kipling I could go on. Nonfiction: Too many to even start but my all time favorite has to be The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz and The Journals of Lewis and Clark

So anyway, I left work a little early yesterday to have a drink with a lady I met last week. Afterwards she suggested we walk around a bit (we were in Overton Park) and we ended up walking in this art gallery. Now I am not a big fan of art, in fact the walls in my house are bare except for some military momentos, a few palques and my diploma. But I saw this picture and I just had to have it. I didn't even ask how much, I just asked if they could change the frame to red cedar. Anyway I paid way more for it than I intended but I really liked it. Well, after we left she suggested that she could help me find a place to hang it. That ended up meaning exactly what I hoped it meant. Apparently women find men who buy art from little art stores attractive. You might want to give that a try Wals! Next girl I take out I might try that again! Oh, here is the pic I bought. I had never seen it before but it is famous evidently.

He is not a fine upstanding human being thats for sure, but he may be right about some things. It's hard not to be worried when our own political leaders are calling regular citizens who oppose them "evil mongers" as Harry Reid did. Remember he got mad that Bush called Iraq, Iran, and North Korea evil. Apparently only regular Americans who want nothing more than to live their lives in peace qualify as evil to this man. He writes an Op-Ed with the Speaker of the House (who is supposed to represent ALL Americans) chastising people who do not want socialized health care saying is was Un-American to disagree with your government. It was fine and good to disagree when they were out of power, not now that they have it. Nancy Pelosi calls all of those self same hard working regular Americans a bunch of Nazis and that they were carrying swastikas. Never mind the fact that is was an outright lie. James Clyburn the third highest ranking man in the house said the people who don't want health care reform are just racists for opposing Obama. I see, so if I disagree with the President about anything I'm racist? Rep Shelia Jackson Lee said the same thing and also said we were going to get government health care whether we wanted it or not. John Dingel, a very high ranking Democrat Rep from Michigan said those who opposed health care were probably in the Ku Klux Klan. Commentator Bill Maher has openly said people who have publicly opposed UHC should be shot. Lets not forget the hatred and anger directed at the regular blue-collar folks at the tea-party protests over the past six months. These are just normal people angry about government corruption, and out of control spending. Sarah Palin has been publicly vilified for her "Death Panels" comment. While it was a little out in left field, Obama's own health care adviser Ezekiel Emmanuel has flat out said extended care for seniors is not guaranteed because of the high cost and low return since they are not productive citizens anymore (meaning they don't pay high taxes like a younger person). Another Obama adviser Cass Sunstein has written in favor of forced sterilizations and abortions in the name of population control. Add to all of this the fact that American citizens have been buying firearms and ammunition and a rate unprecedented in US history since Obama took office and that membership in fringe groups like the Alaska Independence movement and a those nutty militias are up. The Governor of Texas has a panel studying the legal and economic implications of secession and has openly spoken of it to the press as have a few others in the Texas State House. There are similar think tanks in Louisiana and Oklahoma doing the same things (privately without State sanction but with some popular support). I know political contention is hardly new in the US but it seems worse to me now than anytime in my lifetime. I will admit it. I am afraid we are on a road that might well take us to a very dark place. Rather than slow the descent, Obama seems intent on greasing the rails and Congress is working hard to paint the American people as the new enemy of the government.

How come no one has suggested LoF being Volourn's alt? He is pretty much the WOT's Volo. Volo is not motivated enough to make an alt

Pat Buchanan went a little nuts for a few years back in the 90's. He seems to have calmed down of late and his columns have been pretty good. Like this one that seems to repeat a lot of what I've been saying here lately. I think the US as a political institution is entering it's last phase of life. I believe a breakup is inevitable because no matter what the divisive issue is, the root of it is what power the federal government should or should not have. One side wants the see the Federalist system eliminated and for the national government to assume control of everything (note: this is not necessarily socialism or totalitarianism, but it could be), the other side wants to reign Uncle Sam back to his constitutionally defined role. The two viewpoints are fundamentally incompatible with each other. At some point one of the two sides must capitulate or they shake hands and go their separate ways, each taking half of the country with them. Lets hope it's one of those two, the third possibility is that one side seizes power and tries to exterminate the other. I sincerely hope that never comes to pass.

Ever notice how Krezack seems to think crazy and libertarian are all one word? You guys are making me break my own rule about not posting in one of LoFs threads.

Here are the odds line: Krezack 10:1, Pop 4:1, Deadly Nightshade 30:1, taks 10000:1, Walsingham 200:1, Kaftan 15:1, Guard Dog 10000:1, Laozi 80:1 Krookie 75:1, Rostere 100:1, Monte Carlo 90:1, Not an alt just a fool 2:1

Marlins lose a heart breaker last night against the Nats 5-3. C'mon Fish you gotta win games like that. Philly won, Rocks won, Fish lost ground. Kudos to Jeter for breaking Gehrigs record.

So would an individual state government, if it wished to, be able to organise universal health care for its own citizens? Have any done so? Would this be more acceptable to the public? I would definately support that, since it would leave accountability to a closer and to a lower level, making it more easy for the taxpayers to verify any fraud or mismanagement. The federal government would simply have legislate the mandate "universal healthcare guaranteed to its citizens" to every state would be enough. Whether if they would adpot the swiss model or the british one would be up to them as long as it was universal. @Steve: Oregon and Wisconson are working on this very thing right now. I believe it's on hold waiting to see what Obama and Congress are going to do. But their proposals are more manageable, far less onerouss and most importantly are constitutional. @Meshugger: The Constitution does not permit the Federal government to tell the states "Thous Shalt or Shalt Not Do This" about much of anything unless a program is either 1) Paid for by Federal money, this would not be, or 2) Pertains to inter-state commerce or dealing with a foeriegn power. This would not. If an individual state wished to privide UHC for it's citizens I am all for it.

I'm curious. What does everytone think of interleague play? On the MLB channel on XM this morning they were tlaking about the unbalancing effect it had on the playoff races. For example, The Rockies playes a weak interleague schedule compared to the Cubs and that accounted for 10 Rocks wins over weaker teams where the Cubs had to play in NY and Boston and lost 5 of 6. Remove the interleague games and the NL wild card race is a lot tighter. If I were in charge I think I'd limit the Interleague play to one home and one away series against a cross league "rival" (Cubs vs White Sox for example) and do away with the rest. Ideally I think we should expand the AL by two teams, eliminate interleague play and go back to a balanced schedule, but that will never happen. What are everyones thoughts on Interleague?

I think this is the right answer. More to the point, the no huddle prevented substitutions so they could not set the defense they wanted.

Good point. He probably could not. The days of shade tree mechanics are long gone. Heck I don't even do my own oil changes anyome. It costs more to buy the filter and oil and pay the disposal fee for the old oil than it does to take it in to a shop.