Guard Dog

Let me take this into a different direction. I'll pose two questions about the war and lets see what opinions everyone has. 1) How would history have changed had Germany won, or at least ended the war on more favorable terms? 2) What impact did the US entrance have on the war and if the US had not entered what would have changed? Would history be different today? I'll post my own thoughts in a bit, but I'm curious what you guys think.

I once thought I would have a traditional family. Wife, kids, take them to see the grandparents from time to time. But the reality was a little different. My wife and I split up a few years ago with no kids. I hated her after that but now that I look back on it the divorce was really like a quiet death at the end of a long illness. You're sad when it happens but you are also glad it's over. I hated her mostly because I blamed her for things she was not totally responsible for. At the time I had a failed marriage, failed business, and failed political career, plus was totally broke. She left because of it but she was not the cause of it. I alienated most of my family in that process but have mended the fences some since. But most holidays I avoid family gatherings, too uncomfortable. So really my dogs are like my family now. I seriously doubt I'll get married again, once was enough. I wonder what life might be like if things had gone differently, especially this time of year. But I don't dwell on it. The one lesson in life that I have learned is that happiness is something you chose to have, or not to have. I chose to be happy and optimistic. Thats why I've never understood why so many people get so down and depressed over family, or homesickness this time of year. Your home is wherever you are. And your family is your friends and the people around you right now, just as much as your parents, spouse, siblings etc.

Ricky Williams out for the season after just 6 carries It's almost enough to make your head explode.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29 Green Bay at Dallas 8:15 p.m. COWBOYS. (Hard to call but GB is only 18th in pass D and Dallas is 5th in pass O) SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2 San Francisco at Carolina 1 p.m. PANTHERS (49ers are terrible) Jacksonville at Indianapolis 1 p.m. JAGUARS (Jags are the 4th best team in the league right now) San Diego at Kansas City 1 p.m. CHARGERS (very leery of this one) NY Jets at Miami 1 p.m. JETS (This is a home game for the jets) Detroit at Minnesota 1 p.m. LIONS (Vikings only won last week because of injuries to NY) Seattle at Philadelphia 1 p.m. EAGLES (Seattle is a poor road team and they are under no pressure) Atlanta at St. Louis 1 p.m. FALCONS (Better O, better D than the Rams) Houston at Tennessee 1 p.m. TITANS (Losing streak ends today) Buffalo at Washington 1 p.m. REDSKINS (Rebounds after loss in Tampa, dedicates game to Taylor, emotions running high) Cleveland at Arizona 4:05 p.m. BROWNS (Should have no trouble) Denver at Oakland 4:05 p.m. RAIDERS (Raiders D should come up big here.) NY Giants at Chicago 4:15 p.m. GIANTS (Look for a big effort after being embarassed by Vikings) Tampa Bay at New Orleans 4:15 p.m. BUCCANEERS (GO BUCS!!!!!!) Cincinnati at Pittsburgh 8:15 p.m. STEELERS (Last nights game was ugly. But good teams can win the ugly ones) MONDAY, DECEMBER 3 New England at Baltimore 8:30 p.m. RAVENS (This is it! Pats will be looking past the Ravens with the Steelers looming next week)

How is that series? I have Pandora's Star but I never got around to reading it yet. Is it worthwhile?

Redskins' Taylor dies in Miami-Dade from gunshot wound Very sad.

Watched Saturday night. I won't spoil anything but I will say get the DVD. It longer (uncut) and the story is worth the price tag. I'd give it 8.5 out of 10. BTW, they announced the start of Season 4 has been pushed back to 3/2008 and still no release date for Season 3 on DVD.

That and the inherent bias in the western media. That is utter sophistry but I realize only too well the futility of discussing it with you. No disrespect intended, but with your current president's lackluster track record, I'm finding it rather difficult not to doubt the intelligence of american voters. Remember what I said about the best of two bad choices? In the US only two candidates have a realistic shot at election. If they are both duds we are doomed to a dud president. You just have to hold your nose and pick the one that disgusts you the least. GDM makes a post in obvious jest and you use it to cast aspersions on his intelligence? That is a cheap shot.

*cheerfully* ...Because clearly an aggressively expanding communist bloc could have been expected to stop at Vietnam, and not go on to take over Laos and Cambodia, followed by Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia... Australia... India... that would have been just fine. Isn't that right, my unfeasibly 1920s friend? If a country is not strong enough to stand on its own against those that transgress it then it doesn't have the right to exist. Geez, does that mean nobody should help other countries against aggressors? That would change history a bit. Ja, mein freund. Okay, that was a little low.

Well I guess that solves that. It's all Greasy Dog Meats fault. Seriously, the rest of the world needs to come to grips with two facts. 1) The average American voter is not stupid. They may not be as informed on world events and politics as other countries citizens but that is only because we are less directly impacted by them. Never doubt though, most are pretty well informed when they step into the voting booth and the choice they make is usually an educated one. 2) Americans elect leaders to safeguard and advance the interests of America, not the rest of the world, not the UN, and certainly not our enemies. And when the interests of America contradict those of others (even allies such as most of Europe) we expect and demand that our leaders do what is best for our country. John Kerry utterly doomed his presidential bid when he stated he would not use military force to avert or defend against an imminent threat without world approval. What fool would place control of their well being in the hands of people who care nothing if you live or die? Don't get me wrong, no one likes GWB but he was the lesser of two bad choices in both of the last elections. Case in point, The Kyoto Treaty. Signing that would be tantamount to an act of sabotage on the US economy. Why in the world do you think Clinton refused to even put it to the Senate the first time it came up? Why do you think in 1997 the Senate voted it down 97-0? Because it would hurt us. The elected leaders of ANY sovereign nation should be expected to act in the best interests of that nation not some nebulous abstract concept like "the global community".

Miami Ice by Dave Rosenbaum. It's about the founding of the Florida Panthers NHL team cuminating with the 1996 Stanley Cup run. The end of game 4 was the only time I have ever cried at a sporting event. Not because the Panthers lost, but because the season was over. Anyway, the book is a great read if you like hockey.

Windows Solitare! God, I am so bored. I need to go get a new game.

Actually during Desert Shield/Storm we did have "cultural sensitivity" training. It usually was just about what not to do so no one got offended. Dont drink in public, don't swear, dont leave porno mags out where they could be seen. We were in the middle of nowhere with nary a drop of alcohol to be found so there was small chance of getting into trouble there. But I heard the Saudi miltary guys would pay as much as $100 US for a recent issue of Hustler.

Because they're being lied to. Though "lied" may be too harsh. Dissemination of faulty or biased information isn't always intentional. What? You don't think the xenophobia that the average American has towards Islam might have a little to do with it? Geez, the guy is accused of attending an Islamic school like he spent a year in a terrorist training camp. We send troops to Iraq and Afghanistan without even training them on the culture of the people they are supposed to be helping. We have politicians who probably don't even know what the Qu'ran is. Islam is the second largest religion in the world, and it's growing faster than Christianity, so maybe the US should stop treating it like something evil. You know Hurlshot, there is a Muslim congressman now, and the city of New York has publicly commemorated Ramadan the past 4 years. Most public schools are making it a point to educate kids on Muslim culture (you of all people should know that). I'm not seeing anyone treating Islam like something evil in America today. Quite the opposite actually. The incident this entire thread is based on was initiated as a cynical political tactic to inflame a perceived racial bias in the public by a democrat against another democrat. The racial bias did not exist it seemed and the tactic has backfired a little. It's funny, that is the exact kind of dirty trick the dems would accuse republicans of using. Usually without merit to the accusation.

No, WORSE! Actually, there are 4 women in public service now that would make a better president than the current one or the current crop of candidates. Codelezza Rice, Maria Ross Lietenin, Mary Taylor, Dr. Sarah Nunez.

[sigh] Yes Yushaa, we all know about it. Like others have said, this was leaked by the Clinton mafia to (hopefully) eliminate him as a viable candidate about 6-8 months ago. It got no traction in the public. If anything Obama has been pefroming better in the polls of late and even pulling even with Hillary in some states. Maybe the Americans are not the war mongering racist muslim haters you seem to think we are. If it came down to having to choose between him and Hillary I'd choose him. He is just another Carter. Hilllary is something else entirely. Something much worse.

Actually the Bucs went on to lose the first 12 games of the 1977 season too. That set the NFL losing streak record at 26. I remember one of those games, the Bucs were getting hammered by the Vikings. They had 9 turnovers in that game. The offesive coordinator and O-line coach got into a fist fight on the sideline and the players had to break it up. After the game a reporter asked Coach Mackay how he felt about his teams excecution that day. He replied "I'm in favor of it.:

Thursday, Nov. 22 Green Bay at Detroit 12:30 pm PACKERS (Best passing O vs worst passing D) N.Y. Jets at Dallas 4:15 pm COWBOYS (Nuff said) Indianapolis at Atlanta 8:15 pm COLTS (Atlanta is going nowhere) Sunday, Nov. 25 Buffalo at Jacksonville 1:00 pm JAGS (Go JAGS! Ok I'm not objective here) Houston at Cleveland 1:00 pm TEXANS (They have been improving steadily and came up big against NO last week) Minnesota at N.Y. Giants 1:00 pm VIKINGS (With both Jacobs and Ward out it's all on Manning. I don't think he can do it.) New Orleans at Carolina 1:00 pm SAINTS (A bad game last week means a rebound today. This team is better than it's record) Oakland at Kansas City 1:00 pm CHIEFS (Ok I flipped a coin, it was tails) Seattle at St. Louis 1:00 pm SEAHAWKS (Hasselback is playing hurt but the Rams are terrible) Tennessee at Cincinnati 1:00 pm TITANS (Titans end the losing streak. What the heck happened to Cincy this year?) Washington at Tampa Bay 1:00 pm GO BUCS! (Ok I'm not objective here either) San Francisco at Arizona 4:05 pm CARDS (Where did I put that coin?) Baltimore at San Diego 4:15 pm CHARGERS (They are a schizo team but they can beat the Ravens.) Denver at Chicago 4:15 pm BEARS (Another loss and the Bears become a longshot for the playoffs) Philadelphia at New England 8:15 pm PATS (Not this week) Monday, Nov. 26 Miami at Pittsburgh 8:30 pm STEELERS (Dolphins are enroute to a pefect season)

I know a 13 year old girl is far from emotionally stable even if she has no mental problems. But I just can not imagine someone can be driven to kill themselves based solely on the hurtful words of someone she never even met. As to suicide in general I would not rule it out as an option if someone has a crippling or terminal disease, or is in constant physical pain that there is no hope of relieving. But that is about it. It seems a little senseless to me to do it because you're broke, your career(s) have failed, your spouse/significant other has left you, or other reasons in that vein. Those things will happen to everyone in life but the sun will rise tomorrow and who knows what it will bring. I remember a story in Gainsville FL where a fired and dead broke college professor shot himself with a winning lottery ticket in his desk at home.

Busted! It's true I bought it the first time because of that. But I keep coming back because it is REALLY good stuff. I have liked everything they make so far.

Just got back from the store. I decided this year I'm going to grill steak and lobster tails instead of turkey. So I bought a 14 oz porterhouse. two lobster tails, a pound of conch salad and corn on the cob. And I bought a lamb roast to smoke for the dogs. Top that off with two cases of Spanish Peaks American Pale Ale and I am all set. Mmmmmm. I love Thanksgiving since the big D. BTW, I found Tale's wallet. I ummm... sort of borrowed his credit card to go shopping with. Thanks Tale!

Going grocery shopping soon. I need to get Thanksgiving things like beer, turkey, beer, macaroni and stuff, beer. No releatives this year! Ahhhhhhh..... no one to get angry when I drink beer and watch football all day. My dogs never complain about that.

I hang my head in shame!

Did anyone catch Mike and Mike on ESPN dumping on the Pats for running up the score on Buffalo? I don't think that was a fair criticisim. The Pats put thir 2nd and 3rd string in by the 3rd quarter and the Bills still could not stop the run. So who is going to beat this team? They must have a loss in there somewhere.

Good God! The German police just stopped another one before it happened. What the heck is going on in the world. What is this handbasket we're in and where are we going? Link!:http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/18...plot/index.html