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is this not the prison thread? seems like a lifetime conviction. jw

Tsar! well, i have been a little busy, given my trip to Vancouver and the Olympics and all. plan to be there this friday. and Jerry mentioned meeting up with you a couple of months back. hope all's well. jw

i'm getting the real sense that this might never end. jw

of course i do. jw

that, in fact, was the real news that came out of it. don't know how we all missed it. jw

thanks. jw

right, being honest, anonymously sitting behind a computer, using a pseudonym, and making derogatory comments. hey, you don't like the guy. we get it. don't need to be rude. jw

it does have some haiku feel to it. guess i'm a poet who didn't no it. jw as for crayonz: i've reviewed the tape from said presser and discovered that Mr. Jauron was misquoted by this website. he did, however, acknowledge getting a laugh out of the Hitler-T.O. video. jw

human. (oops, wrong post). jw

human. jw

i had the same thought and made a call. am told he has other visits scheduled. jw

why was this posted? why am i responding to this post? why is the original poster now trying to bait Bills fans with trashy responses about the team leaving? why does the original poster think that this is hilarious or that he/she will get some kind of last laugh? many questions, few answers in opening the new week with the familiar foolishness, leaving me nothing to add to something that requires no addition. i think i've just summed up an exercise in futility. jw

conclusions drawn but no news at this point. jw

still drinking hopefully. oh, and breathing, can't forget that part. jw

you're making sweeping generalizations here that don't really equate. the U.S., as a nation, didn't lead the world in its commitment to the press, private citizens did by establising such major news-gathering outlets such as the NY Times, CBS, the LA Times and Time/Life magazines. these were all and remain commercial entities. and there are numerous other nations that have or had highly regarded news mediums. i'll read the Globe and Mail any chance i get, the Dublin Times and some of the London Dailies are top notch, as was the Jerusalem Post (before Conrad Black got a hold of them). Knight-Ridder's demise was very unfornunate. your point, however, that commercial journalism is folding rapidly is off the mark. it's merely that the mediums are in transformation. there is and will always be a demand for news. it's what makes society work, even closed societies. in former Soviet Russia, the people still read Pravda. whether knowing or not the news was slanted and false, it was still read because there is a need for the consumption of news. people want to know what's going on. the question is what the industry will look like in 10-20 years. that said, there will always be a market for skilled reporters capable of digging for news and reporting it in timely and accurate basis. just because the printing press if fading, doesn't mean that journalism is obsolete. jw

i understand your point. and it is something that needs to be brought up by fiscal conservatives rather than dogmatic politicos (of which i am not accusing you, Darin, or Bunning for that matter -- don't really know him too well -- of being) merely seeking to score points. the trouble i have, is where those true fiscal conservatives were when they were in the majority? now, of course, this will lead to further cat-calls and accusations of my apparent leftward leanings, but i do think that the fiscal conservatives in Washington are late in finding their voice. and an argument can be made that, now that they're not in power, they are finding their voice conveniently late. that, i think, has been the downfall of the conservative movement within the Republican Party of late. jw ADDED, in bold.

it's not Bunning's message, it's how it comes across: a former athlete in a suit standing in the privileged Capitol Hill bubble of unreality, pitchforking the unemployed. all that was missing was him saying, "Let them eat cake." this has nothing to do with ambivalence or fiscal responsibility. this instead had the appearance of (intended motive or not, i don't know) of political grandstanding in my opinion. jw

i have difficulty dealing with the phrase "fiscal responsibility," given all the money that has been doled out over this past decade (and i include the past two years in that) to causes and concerns that have nothing to do in helping those that need help the most. to me, this was not a time to take a stand on the backs of the less fortunate. that moment passed a long time ago. and we're all paying for it in my opinion. jw

with all due respect, i don't find the for-profit news media as evil, nor do i find the publicly financed networks such as the CBC and BBC as perfect or anywhere near that. what i do find to be interesting is the populous divide that occurs between the two come, say, TV sweeps months, and the sudden rise of sexy and exotic stories in a bid to grab audience share. now, of course, that happens mostly at the local level, where television stations have long fallen off any path ever laid out by Ed Murrow and Co. what's curious to me, is that the few times i find myself switching on the national news, more often than not its CBC, BBC or even PBS. i find their breath of reporting to be deeper and more defined, as opposed to the half-hour (well, not even, given commercial break) the major networks provide (and i include CTV in that, since we get that in Buffalo). as for what counts as cable news these days, i find that mostly unwatchable because that's all spiraled into opinion and chatter and tweets and polls. jw

once again, there are those who attempt to push a label on me. good for you, as that is your perogative. my philosophies and leanings are my own and developed over a lifetime of experience. my influences include the likes of authors Hunter S. Thompson, Charles Bukowski and Graham Greene, who's wonderful novel, "Monsignor Quixote," well portrays the divide between religious dogma and socialism, and the vague and nobel gray areas in between them. and that, perhaps, is what i continue to strive for an seek, the counterpoint to zealotry, a healthy skepticism of those in power and a well-defined leaning toward the common man/woman. some of those here mistake my criticism of Bunning for something else, i believe. jw

i find it humorous that people think i'm following talking points or following this debate like some political junkie. these are my impressions and my opinions and my observations. i am not politically connected or member of some party or group/movement. i think the polarity of this debate and the rigid black-and-white nature of it in this country and others creates a mood of utter intolerance that i find vexing. jw ADD: i will not apologize for my opinions or get dragged into the marginalizing name-calling that takes place on this particular board.

scary, indeed. i'll do my best to make sure this won't be a trend. jw

and yet, as some have pointed out, Bunning's big stand comes not against the large Wall Street bailouts, but against the actual worker. makes sense to me. jw

so let me get this straight: employees pay into a fund that provides them unemployment insurance, and there's someone who says those fund shouldn't be released -- in an economic crisis no less. and this person taking this "moral" stand is a former athlete who got paid lots of money to throw a baseball, before his arm gave out, at which point he could live quite easily on the millions of dollars he was paid and had no need to cash in on unemployment insurance because he, after all, was paid millions. and he's taking this stand against people who paid into a fund and seeking recompense? well, sheesh, i can see the point he's making, given the fact that he used to throw a baseball and cashed in on his name recognition, and now is being paid by the people he's accusing of being lazy. it all adds up. jw ADD: hey bishop!!

not entirely true. the CBC is financed by the government in Canada, and i regard it as a great source for news. not sure if the BBC is similar. PBS, though, does gain some federal subsidies, and i regard that as one of the most unbiased and cogent sources of news here. Comedy Central might rank 2nd. jw