Terry Tate

Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R - San Diego) has stated he will not seek another term, saying he's probably not the strongest candidate anymore. He is under investigation for receiving kickbacks from a government contractor. I don't know if it's true, but from what I've read so far it doesn't look good. Duke is a USN Vietnam war ace and MOH recipient. I was privileged to have the opportunity to watch his debriefings about his kills, as well as the debriefings of USAF's Ace, Steve Ritchie. I came away impressed with both mens' skills, but Steve Ritchie struck me as a lot more humble than Duke, who appeared fairly arrogant (which I would point out was not unfounded bravado. If you know any fighter pilots, an amount of arrogance is a common trait - possibly necessarily so). I don't know, maybe I was just prejudiced in favor of USAF pilots. You remember "Top Gun" - the instructors flying Soviet tactics training our pilots? That was also Duke's job. He's contributed quite a lot to our country, and is one of my heroes for all his accomplishments. It would be a shame if his record is tarnished by a kickback scheme at the end of his career. One of my favorite T-shirts way back then - "F-4 Phantom - the world's largest distributor of MIG parts". Anyone know if that is still true?

I believe that merits its own thread, you activist slacker.

Perhaps there are better examples of decisions that would illustrate judicial activism as practiced by a conservative justice. I thought the argument in the article linked was flawed at it's foundation. I still believe judicial activism has a clear (derogatory) context, but I'm open to the suggestion a better argument can be made on the subject. I'm not offended; it's just difficult to size up someone I've never met, can't see, and can't hear. I'm sure there's posters here that I think I agree with that I would avoid in public, and others I may think little of that I would actually have a great time hanging out with. Just the limitations of the medium. After getting thoroughly reamed by someone for paying them a compliment that they took as cutting sarcasm, I try to be as clear as I can. Or alternately, completely goof off. I try to avoid the in between.

I guess if my attempt to examine decisions and the respective reasoning behind them can be dismissed as "bull**it" because I think "judicial activism" has a clearly defined context, then there's not much point in continuing. BTW, you're replying to your own posts now. That's just strange.

I'm against cruel and unusual punishment. Felons convicted of heinous crimes should have a choice between hanging and firing squad, and it should be done in short order as to not further weigh on them.

Now that was an interesting take on it; thanks for the link. It does reinforce an argument I posted about last week, that Judith Miller's case would not be helped if there were a federal shield law in place for reporters. Wonder how many more new threads there will be on this topic during the months it takes for the actual truth to come out? It's becoming the Travis Henry trade of PPP.

But it's their very attempt to quantify and (re-)define "judicial activism" that's crap. They're well aware of the difference between overturning an unconstitutional law and making up new rights that are clearly not included in the Constitution, yet they penned the article to forward their (flawed) version of the "yeah, well so are you" argument. Such a display is hardly worthy of encouragement. Overturning an unconstitutional law is what the SC is supposed to do. Maybe it's Congress that's lost sight of what their responsibilities are - any chance of that?

Well, the numbers may be right. It's only their presumptions and conclusions that are crap. For me, 50% or more of the laws coming out of Congress being unconstitutional is not a stretch of the imagination. In fact, six out of nine justices would appear to agree it's at or close to 50%.

Oh, I'm not advocating the end of the space program, I'm advocating the end of risking human life for mindless tasks that automated devices can easily carry out. Launch payloads on unmanned rockets - the only people who are hurt when they blow up are insurance companies. You can send humans up when you absolutely need to in a "space plane"-type of vehicle. There any scientific experiments aboard the space station that could not be done far more cheaply on unmanned probes?

That's some hard news. Hope your aunt is getting all the help she needs. As for the boy, well - sounds a lot like me when I was his age. I was sent away to school for a couple years, and I had to work to pay for the tuition. I would come home many weekends, but quite often not. Kept me away from the other troublemakers quite a bit - which was about all that could be done with me at that point. After my parents sold their house and moved to a different part of town, I went to a new school, but only took the bare minimum classes so I could get a full-time job, barely graduated (but did), and finally left home. Didn't turn me completely around, but I didn't do time in Attica for grand theft auto like my old best friend did. He had a lot more free, idle time on his hands than I did, and of course it was spent poorly. Kids who are busy going to school, learning a trade, doing chores, participating in sports, etc simply don't have as much time to get in trouble as kids who are 'hanging out' all day long. It's not that they wouldn't get in to trouble, or that they don't want to, they just don't have as much opportunity! And, in the end, my ex-con friend and I are both married and are raising kids. So hang in there. I know no parent wants to see their child learn life's lessons the hard way, but for some there is no other way. And life demands those lessons be learned - we don't get to skip class on this one. I was one who learned in the dear school of experience - a fool will learn in no other, and I somehow made it this far relatively intact. So stay strong, and don't give up hope.

Tease. Sure, you say you can put the Sabres back in Blue and Gold, but when someone shows up at your house at night with Crosby tied up in the trunk of their car, then you're all "I don't even work for the Sabres; what were you thinking?"

First step in passing the interview is agreeing to scrap the shuttle program altogether. It's an impressive feat technically (I was just about to leave the house, take the family for a drive to the coast to watch the launch when they cancelled), but a financial and safety disaster. Americans and Russians have had hundreds of manned space program launches, and three fatal losses in flight. Two were shuttles. The only reason we need a shuttle is to service the ISS. The only reason we need the ISS is to have somewhere for the shuttle to fly to. It's a self-licking ice cream cone - a government aerospace contractor's dream.

I'd say that's one of the more accurate descriptions of the current situation that I've read throughout I don't know how many threads on the same subject. BTW, I still think that dog has that look on his face - he hasn't forgotten who took him to the vet to get "fixed". Lock him up at night and sleep with one eye open.

What can I say, when the topic is the feather-lightweight intellect of a superheavyweight, I see no reason to take it seriously. Feel the wind, plank!

It's not silly, it's "important"! Because there's "idiots" who don't like MM, and they quoted something stupid he said! And I won't stand for it! He doesn't actually like the forces fighting and killing our soldiers - he doesn't want them to win, even though he says they will - he just compared them to the heroes who risked their lives to found our nation because, because ... GAAAAHHH!

Thank you. It's so important to understand the nuances by parsing his ignorant rantings to explain he didn't mean the terrorists were minutemen, he didn't mean the AQ were minutemen, he didn't mean the foreigners fighting US troops in Iraq were minutemen, no no - he meant the Iraqis who are fighting US troops who are not bombing mosques and killing civilians are the modern day equivalent of revolutionary war minutemen, throwing off the yoke of an imperialist government. It's all so much clearer now. Good point, keep up the good work.

I have a theory that kind of ties into that - "Most people suck". It's not totally fleshed out, but that's the basic premise. Nothing like hearing the same songs over and over again on any given station. Then, if you work a different shift later that day, you can hear the exact same tape played back again on your way to/from work twelve hours later.

That would explain the deer congregating on his front lawn every night, staring at the house, waiting to see if he's going to come out the door.

My right foot is pretty smart, it taught DCTom's cats how to roll their own cigarettes. My left foot isn't too bright though. Oh it tries - came up with a fried noodle recipe the other day. Don't know where the heck it got that one, something to do with pickle juice.

Not too much laughter - I visited a friend in the hospital who had his appendix taken out, had him laughing so hard he was crying - from the pain. Good times. Get well.

Sorry, no. I was a little curious, so I searched around and found some really bad covers, and a really weird one - Billie Jean lyrics sung to Smells Like Teen Spirit - "Smells Like Billie Jean" by Smash-up Derby . Didn't find the version in that video though.

Backfeeding is by electrical code illegal and frowned upon by the utilities because it is not always failsafe. It is not extremely dangerous if you do it correctly, but is very prone to accident if not followed exactingly. Injury or death to a lineman or to yourself, frying every major appliance in your home, or blowing up your generator are all possible if it is not done properly and safely. It is also cause for your insurance company to void your policy, if it is discovered that the cause of an accident or fire is due to backfeeding from a generator. If you are aware of the dangers and how to do it properly, it can be accomplished safely. If you are unsure of any aspect of it, avoid it. The internet is a useful tool in learning about it, but beware of the source, as there are folks who post information on the subject who are not experts. On this topic, don't accept advice from someone who isn't. The safest way to go is a transfer switch installed by a licensed electrician.

Good grief, those cubs are tiny. "Following tradition, Chinese officials probably will name the cub after it reaches 100 days old." 100 day birthdays are big in asia, probably due to a high infant mortality rate up to that point. We celebrated the 100 day mark for both my children.

I think you're going to scare the heck out of the civilians!

Ironically, Welsh noted, a 1990 ruling in Hamilton County also means it's not illegal for women to publicly bare their breasts. Somehow, I found this the most interesting part of the story.