Guard Dog

Grrr. I was going to say that too GDM, you beat me to it. Goodbye and Godspeed Mr. Heston. RIP.

Gromnir is, as usual, completely correct. The ideal situation is a President of one party, a Senate controlled by the other, and a narrow division in the house. The one thing, the single most important thing, a President does is appoint judges. Not just Supreme Court justices but appellate and Federal district judges. My fear is that Obama/Clinton will give us more abominations like Ginsburg, Stevens, Souter (GHB should be strung up for that one). Thats one of the big reasons i'm voting for McCain. Not because I like him or his politics (I do not) but because the alternative is so much worse. Hmmm seems like all of the presidential elections I've ever voted in were the same way. Choosing the lesser of two evils.

Dean "Florida Democrat Delegation Will Be Seated" This is big new if he follows through. Hillary won big in Florida and if they seat FL, MI, and she wins by the expected margin in PA she will have a very good chance of winning the over all popular vote if not the pledged delegate count. Remember what I said, the majority of the Supers WANT to vote for her. They are afraid of Obama because he is from outside the political machine. If she gives them something to hang their hat on like a popular vote win the majority will throw in with her. My dream scenario is close to becoming a reality!

So far this season I have been surprised by two things, 1) The inability of Detroit to do anything with KC 2) The Marlins have actually broken 30,000 in attendance after just two games. I thought it would take at least 10!

I've finally made it to a spring game. I drove over to Jupiter to watch the Marlins and Orioles. The fish were beaten like red headed step children. But I got my first look at their prize prospect Jeremy Hermidia. He was one of the bright spots especially when he hit a HR that cleared the stadium wall at the deepest point. But he was hacking at some really bad pitches trying to make something happen. The rest of the team played pretty dismally especially the bullpen. Nolasco pitched three perfect innings before giving up a hit. Then the bullpen pitchers came in, a new one every other inning. They gave up 16 hits and 7 earned runs. The prognosticators have not had much nice to say about the fish. So far I'd agree.

More expensive by a long way but doing the most humane thing is seldom the most expedient or least expensive.

I've been a little busy these days Wals. I work in a dog rescue (when I can find the time) and I have 14 dogs of my own and I can categorically state, animals do not have rights. Having a right implies the ability to assert it. I can't even convince half of my dogs that the front door and back door lead to the same yard. It is a sad (bitter gut wrenching for those who have seen it) necessity to put animals to sleep. And in a situation like the article paints, rabies is a real concern because it turns a harmless stray into a raving monster with a deadly bite. But you are all right, methods are important and it should be done in as humane a way as possible. I suggest a sedative dart followed by a Sodium Pentobarbital injection. It painless and used by vets everywhere. And no Wals, not shotguns because there is a real probability of doing a half way job of it.

Mets Say No to Bonds, Becket out with Back Injury, Cubs leaving Wrigley? The homerun king is officially persona non grata in MLB these days. When Tampa and NYM say no (both teams in need of a power hitter) you know it's over.

Oh man did I call this one right of what? I'm telling you this Florida Michigan thing is going to matter. If Hillary wins every primary she is expected to of the ones remaining and the supers continue to break in the same pattern as they have so far the delegates from FL and MI will be needed to form the majority. If it comes to that Clinton wins. The states will not pay for a revote since their election was lawful, and apperently the Dems wont either. If the rules comittee of the dem party tries to disallow those delegates and nominate without the 2021 majority Clinton will sue and this gets settled in court. You know how much Americans love lawyers and lawsuits? Not one little bit http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/sen.-bill...2008-03-06.html Enoch, I really believe the majority of the super delegates are scared to death of Obama. They are afraid to support him and afraid not to.That is why so few have openly comitted to him. They were equally afraid to comit to Clinton because the elections were going against her. But if she gives them a viable out I really think they will vote for her by a fair margin. I may be wrong on this but I don't think so.

I think your $100 is safe Tarna. As I've stated before, Hillary is a machine politician. She is the safe choice, the known quantity. The party hacks that make up the superdelegates WANT to vote for her. They want a reason to vote for her. If she wins in Pennsylvania (as seems likely) she will have swept all the big populous states. She can not catch Obama in pledged delegates but she is close enough that her wins in Florida and Michigan would have made the difference and the majority of the supers will use that as the pretext for voting for her. A fresh face like Obama riding a populist groundswell scares the machine democrats half to death. I agree, the convention will be where the nomination fight ends and it will be ugly. And Hillary will come out on top.

Your thumbs will be just fine Pop. Unless the US enters another two front world war (like 1941) you will never see the draft rear it's ugly head again. Believe me, the military does NOT want another draft. The reason it is so effctive is because it IS all volunteer. It doesn't not suffer the considerable morale problems that come with conscription. Besides, McCain has been one of the biggest advocates of turning away from the the 3 Bs (boots beans bullets) of defense spending and developing unmanned systems like the Predator and that new remote controlled robot, I forgot the name of it. Come to think of it, you were hyperventilating about the draft after Bush was reelceted on 2004 too. It did not happen. This thing with Iran is a whole lot of nothing too. McCain is not stupid, he is not going to want to wade into Iran with Iraq finally starting to stabilize. Unless they do something dumb like give a nuke to Al-Qeada all that will ever come of it is saber rattling and posturing.

You might want to reserve judgement on that one. The LOTR movies actually got finished. I kid.

Nationals Ballpark a Sight to Behold I must say I really like the current trend of baseball only stadiums. This game just does not work on football fields. Plus don't you hate watching football games with infield dirt in October. The new Nationals park looks really nice but it's got nothing on the one they are bulding in Tampa. http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/column...ory/512051.html This is a cool story. And I don't think Texas will have that many cool stories this year.

Fins promise open competition for QB, won't rule out Ryan The Fins need a QB like I need a hole in the head. If they blow that #1 pick on Matt Ryan that would be dumb. Hank Goldberg predicted a trade with Dallas for their #1 and #3 and Kyle Kosier on the radio today.

This is sad. I broke out and flipped through my old 1st ed books (yes I still have them from back in middle school) in his honor. He wrote or collaborated on every one. Like a few other mentioned he left a pretty lasting legacy behind.

I just got home today. I went to a job interview in Atlanta Ga. last Friday and a different one in Cheyenne WY on Monday. The comapny in Cheyenne sent an offer letter today. It was in my email when I got home. But the job is in Casper. Anyone know anything about that area?

Here is a "Tempest in a Teapot" McCain

Taks, ever try Road Dog scottish ale from Flying Dog? They are almost a home town brewer for you so I would guess you have. If so what did you think of it? Personally, I liked it. It's clean and smooth without an after taste and has a malty flavor. The only thing that stinks it it's a little hard to get down here. It seems all the local distributors carry only their India Pale brand that I can't stand.

Don't mistake the Drudge Report for real journalisim. All they do is link news stories other people wrote for other sources. Even when they do pass off work as their own, it came from somewhere else. Like the Monica Lewisnki thing that drudge is credited for breaking. All he did was buy it from the Enquirer whose reporters where angry that their rag was not going to run it. If Prince Harry's deployment was on drudge, it was common knowledge somewhere. On another note I think it is extremely cool that the blood of the old lions can still be found in the royal house!

Well, what do you know! Enoch and I finally agree on something! But you see, he hit me with a perspective I had not thought about before and it changed my mind on the issue. That is the value of debate. When it comes to political discussion there are two kinds of people kool-aid drinkers and critical thinkers. I'd like to think I'm one of the latter. Kool-aid drinkers think what the think but never ask themselves why. They know little about opposing viewpoints and reject all counter arguments out of hand without ever considering the logic behind them. We have a few here. They are given to hyperbole and often just repeat talking points they heard or read elsewhere. These are the people who get angry when you disagree with them and get nasty and insulting when you start challenging the strength of their beliefs. They get hostile because they cannot intellectually argue why they believe the way they do and frustrated because if they can't explain why they think that way they cannot ever convince YOU to think that way. So when it happens just laugh because you know you're smarter than they are! I don't think I have ever really tried to change someones mind on any issue. I just want them to see the logic of my argument. If they do they might find a flaw in their own belief and change their mind themselves. It has happened before.

For some reason i always had you pegged as a Bass drinker. Never heard of it. You have never had a Black and Tan?

ARGH! This is exactly what I was afraid would happen. That was just an example. Please please do NOT open that can of worms! This thread is about govennment not science or religion.

I understand where you are coming from. But I look at it in a different way. People like me go looking for someone who disagrees with them and wants to discuss it. I frequent forums like this one and libertypost.org because I find the political forums on the internet are extremely monolithic when it comes to ideology. For example, I've been banned from freerepublic.com and democratunderground.com because I go there and try to debate politics, not to rant and have everyone agree with me. However most forums (like those two) will not tolerate opposing viewpoints. That to me is depressing because if you never hear someone else

I thought is was self evident that such a letter should be substantive and concerning a policy issue the respective politicians are facing not some how-ya-doing friendly letter. Apparently I should have spelled that out. I'm curious, do you have an actual reason to believe that or is it just a reflex response from the inside-the-beltway ivory tower? I have worked with politicians on the state and federal level and found one to be much the same as the other. By local you mean state because all states decide the educational curriculum for that state, not the local school board. Prior to federal curricular guidelines most states (I'd think all but have no evidence to prove it) formed their education curriculum based on what the state universities and colleges expected incoming students to know. I really don't see how that process can be improved upon especially since college admissions, the SAT and ACT are not taken into consideration under current guidelines of Clintons Goals 2000, and Bush

Dolphins Ponder What to Do With No 1 Pick The Fins have so many needs that in an other years a trade down would be a no brainer. But this year the quality really falls off after the 12th pick or so. IMO thir biggest areas of hurt are the O-Line, D-Line and Secondary. Thier offense isn't terrible they just had a ton on season ending injuries early on. They other problem with trading down is there is no one team with a bushel of picks to offer.