birdog1960

were we not discussing congressional districts? http://elect.ky.gov/SiteCollectionDocuments/Election%20Results/2010-2019/2010/statcongdistgen10.txt

kentucky, yes. union coal miners and their families are predominantly dems (coal mines and mining towns are mostly geographically isolated) although obama's anti coal legislation has changed that some. oklahoma and utah, probably not.

no, what he's saying (and you're trying very hard to feign ignorance of) is that the math doesn't work out without purposeful redistricting. you ever looked at the congressional district maps? to argue otherwise is to be stupid, blind or rabidly partisan, all of which are singularly or collectively possible with the cons here.

the announcing was the worst i remember. couldn't even get the down right at times. completely missed the fumble as you said and even as the scramble went on for the ball they didn't recognize it. at the beginning of the game they kept showing a camera shot of a pretty basic scoreboard with loads of empty seats (obviously the cameramen and control booth folks wern't the cream ogf the crop either) but to me, laughing at production goofs was the most amusing part of watching the game.

that was the most abysmall overall game i've seen in a long time. and as a bills fan, that's saying a lot. neither of therse teams are going anywhere fast. the game lasted almost 3 and 1/2 hours on my dvr. having to watch the commercials and not being able to fast forward through the really ugly scenes would have been akin to waterboarding. the nfl needs to step in a require some objective measure of quality from teams in order to let them play. the standard would have to be ridiculously low for the bills to have made the cut. yesterdays entertainemt product was pure fail.

this isn't a winning strategy for repubs: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/most-americans-against-defunding-obamacare-103400779.html.

not sure i agree but heard it said by a country band leader today that there are two eras of country music: before jimmie rodgers and after jimmie rodgers. of course, he was teeing up a jimmy rodgers tune. he also said that billy bragg claimed that americana originated in england (a statement i just confirmed http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/sep/20/billy-bragg-americana-british-teenagers). guess, i'm gonna enjoy "way over yonder in the minor key" a bit less from now on.

then, i don't know. saw her walking through the festival in front of us well before her set and she seemed fine. opened with "can't let go" and it was plain awful. slow yet still out of time and her voice wavered all over the place. my wife said let's go or maybe "we can let go" half way through the song but we listened some more and it didn't get any better. walking away, she sounded worse. maybe,it's in comparison to the young up and comers that are hungry, tight and and highly motivated. maybe it was just a bad night or she needed some rest. maybe it's us. she was the least impressive act i saw last night. great tribute to levon helm tonight. they couldn't fit anymore artists on the stage. at least 30 with a full brass section and the entire crowd joining in for "tennessee" and "the night they drove old dixie down".

ok, then: amber rubarth does some nice gypsy jazz and did a song called novacaine where percussion was provided by a tap dancer. worked very well. lucinda williams was drunk, unpracticed or both - phoned it in. disappointing.

top candidate for a avett like ascendence from last night. from newfoundland, of all places. a bit more paul simon like than avett like but really good imo.

here's the article buffett seemed so fond of in that interview: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande?currentPage=all.

and he also said that if he had to choose between no change or the senate bill, he'd choose the senate bill. he doesn't like the cost of health care. but he's realistic enough to realize that every dollar saved is taken from the trough of some special interest and that's what makes it damn near impossible to pass reform in this country. he gives the administration credit for even attempting it. i loved his quote on paying millions to live 3 more months and the US being the best place to do that. he identifies hospitals as a major excessive cost center and too much technology as well. he lets insurance off the hook and i disagree with him here for reasons i've stated in this thread. finally, he identifies people, that if left unfettered, would likely craft a viable solution. no where did i see him say the things written in the weekly standard as unattributable quotes. and they're just his opinions. he's learned, experienced and a man in possession of significant wisdom. but some of his opinions on this and all matters are likely to be correct and others incorrect. "be fearful when others are greedy. be greedy only when others are fearful."

yup, like when there's blood in the streets.

"buffett insists", "buffett does not believe..." who the hell are these quotes attributed to exactly (look for yourself, those statements are in quotation marks)? can't they get any decent journalist hatchet men at the weekly standard? amazing that cnbc and the weekly standard have such different takes on what he said. no mention in your cited article of "that's not the fault of obamacare". wonder why they left that part out. but, yeah, i disagree with him on the need for universal coverage now. i agree that it would have been better to cut costs simultaneously but with death panels and rationing being screamed every few minutes that wasn't possible. they passed what they could and universal coverage was the top priority. nope, they couldn't even get the votes for that. not something to rejoice over but to lament.

i think the dixie chicks were awesome and i think the statement that did them in was right on. and the guys that piled on were the same guys i think petty is talking about. i don't know though about a comeback. they beat the odds initially singing songs about wife abuse and anti war songs like travelling soldier. not the usual country themes. they may be resilient but in interviews after their last album they seemed pretty beat up. i hope they do though. as far as cash, he was vilified for his anti racism views. it may have worked out in the end but for a while i'll bet he questioned speaking oiut.

omg ...you don't truly believe this right? does this meet the smell test to you? oh and btw, it's not exactly consistent with the brietbart piece you posted.(which i believe)

did you read the article. he calls healthcare costs a tapeworm on the economy but "that's not the fault of obamacare".

warren buffet says it's "damn dumb" http://finance.yahoo.com/news/debt-ceiling-fight-damn-dumb-095747590.html. i fully agree. he's a pretty smart feller....

this is true with at least one caveat: don't stand for anything politically controversial. even johnny cash had trouble with this part. and the dixie chicks were utterly destroyed. natalie maines just made a classic rock album, as usual, going against the grain. that's something i really don't like about the genre. you better follow the straight and narrow or keep your mouth shut or both. pretty much the opposite of rock where rebellion is often celebrated (or at least was).

i'll admit, i watched the last couple cma awards shows and almost barfed watching the planted, smiling, faux country attired "fans" corralled in the front few rows (?pens). yet, even the grand ole opry has it's bling at times. i saw james taylor in nashville a few years back and after a break he came back rubbing his eyes saying all the jewelry of the big country stars back stage nearly blinded him. it's show biz and trying to hold on to fame is to be expected. some do it much more gracefully than others and don't let it get in the way of their craft. kinda like wes welker vs that flashy unproductive receiver that played for the bills one year. what was his name again?

agreed. but tom petty needs to look outside the cma's. there's plenty of good country out there and plenty of stuff (americana, bluegrass, folk) based on it that's very good. he's a damned good guitarist but there are many just as good playing country in honky tonk's and festivals. letterman books them and shows like austin city limits but they're not on many mainstream radio stations. still, it's there if you look. and while you can easily not like brad paisley's or keith urban's songs, you can't deny their abilities when it come to guitar playing.

nice...heard an interview of linda rondstadt recently where she said that her favorite listening experiences were in her living room listening to friends wanting her opinion. if only they wanted my opinion in my living room! sadly, she's lost her voice to parkinsons. her last album was modulated to fit what she had left. the story was on npr if anyone's interested.

it's honest. so when we threaten default, we can now explain to americans using this piece that it was never about the aca (nor were the 30+ other votes against it) but really about winning red senate seats. any bad consequences to the economy, and you'll hear qoutes from this article screamed from rooftops. has anyone on the red team considered that this might not be the brilliant plan they thought it was?

`you may not have known your balance but i'll bet you had a pretty good idea of your percentage drop the day lehman finally hit the public consciousness. and i'll wager you weren't happy. a protracted debt ceiling debate with tyhreats of default could easily precipitate the same scenario.

actually it doesn't pretend. it makes some very real changes and intiates some others that are also very important. firstly, it emphasizes and rewards primary care in which only 30% of american doctors now practice and which, in other cost effective western systems, 50% is the norm. while not initially, i'll bet that specialization will be disincentivized from it's current perverse level, again resulting in more cost effective care. just as the aca mandates preventive care in private insurance products (which will ultimately save money), it could mandate limited payments for end of life or futille care. it could also set safe harbor guidelines for standardized care for common conditions, eliminating wasteful testing and procedures. and it could mandate pay for performance rather than pay for volume. private insurance entities would never tackle these kinds of issues and in their historic very limited attempts have failed. the gov't has the best chance of effecting true reform in these regards. it has to do with psychology. if on paper you are poorer today than you were yesterday, you're not happy. even contrarians have to remind themselves that it might be a good thing. instinctively, you're going to be pi$$ed.