UConn James

Some people expect that when Republicans are forced to contribute to the making of the pie --- and having spoken out against the Democrat plans for the size of the pie being made --- that they ought to not take a piece... even though it was was made all the same with that state's/district's flour, blueberries, Crisco, etc. Are all 23 still there? The nature of foster child programs is to provide direct care until age 18. Even if they are, if the Bachman family has the will, space and resources to do it, why in the world are you ragging on her? Who the hell do you think you are to judge something as selfless as foster care? At least on this (vis-a-vis her views on abortion), she walks the walk where others talk the talk.

"Green Lantern" was just... nauseatingly formulaic. "Super 8" was a sideways thumb, trending downward. I doubt I will remember this movie in five years.

Yep. Walt has had rage issues from the beginning. Hell, even from before the beginning of the series. He was shafted by his business partner and refused a token job there so he could get decent health insurance. That amount of pride is telling of some serious unvented rage (and BTW, I really hope we get some flashbacks as to what exactly happened there). His gift of a pack of Ramen noodles was understood by the guests as a little friendly joke, and even he played it off as such, but I saw that as Walt giving that guy a little slap across the back of the head and a 'remember who and what helped get you here. And you gave me the shaft.' There's also the bottled rage he's had for a long time regarding Walt Jr.'s cerebral palsy. Special needs children induce a lot of stress on parents. I'm not making a judgment call, that's fact. Walt has never blamed Walt Jr. for anything, and yet (and maybe all the more...), the anger that failed to have something to land on is still floating in there. You can get a sense that his son's condition makes him expect more of people who aren't physically handicapped --- directly referencing Jesse's old report card that has in big red ink and capital letters, "(F) APPLY YOURSELF!!!" As it's said in "Rocky" that anger can heat you up or it can burn you up. Well, at this point, Walt is friggin' engulfed in flames. He's also more than a little neurotic. His loss of control in so many things going on around him makes him seek absolute control over the smallest detail of something he ostensibly does have control over --- his (well... Gus's) lab. But even there, that fly kept getting the best of him. He was risking so much (Jesse standing on a teetering jury-rigged ladder, putting off filling the meth quota) about something that he admitted at the end, mattered very little. These show elements are not there entirely for comedic effect and they're not out of character --- they're defining Walt's character. I know it's soon but when does S4 start?

Can we be REALLY clear here? The Democrat supermajority in Mass. was going to pass health care legislation, with or without Romney. Romney tried to bring some fiscal sanity to it and signed the compromise. It was also a state measure in a commonwealth that had a huge amount of healthcare infrastructure in place, 4 percent uninsured, and he'd turned the state around from being $3B in the hole to a surplus, without raising taxes. In terms of good old state's rights, it wasn't exactly out of line with Republican values. It was not a national measure, it wasn't meant to be a national measure, and anybody who claims they used a two-year-old state plan as a model on which to base a national plan with... what, 15% uninsured?... is decidedly stupid, both in that there's no possible way one can glean enough info in that timeframe (and with such different on-the-ground data, infrastructure, demographics, geography, economies, etc. that exist in 50 separate states) to use it as the basis of a national plan that has a chance of success... or that Democrats didn't have almost the exact same national plan in their back pockets since the Clinton years. It's disingenuous to pin all this on Romney. And the reason the administration keep up with the tack of blaming Romney for the national plan is they're scared shitless about his business and executive experience and a track record of deficit turnarounds without !@#$ing over businesses and the citizenry by jacking taxes.

My brother used to question my dad on why he took a handgun almost everywhere he went (legally, with a concealed carry permit). Then my brother went to the police academy and after ~ 6 months on the job, questioned my dad on why he only had one handgun almost everywhere he went.

It's still ~6 months out.... Once things start to trickle out about the previously unvetted, as they have about Bachmann this weekend WRT a family farm subsidy and such, it'll start to winnow out, just as The Donald saw his numbers jump and then plummet. But still, Pawlenty's gotta be downright depressed over this latest straw poll in the Des Moines Register. He's been dumping his resources into Iowa and it's gotten him a whopping 6%. It may be getting late early for his candidacy.

As I wrote upthread, that BILLS wordmark just unnaturally squashes the front numbers down.

Right. They're probably going to have to have a "Drive Like an *" function, or 40% of drivers won't even consider buying one... because they get jollies from being an *. It'd also be interesting how the car insurance companies will treat this technology.

Read that yesterday. Unbelievable that a box like that can use more than a fridge/freezer. Just think about that unnecessary use x millions of households. Makes me all the more happy we cut the cable cord (figuratively) ~15 years ago. An antenna is good enough, and in turn of picture quality for HDTV, it's better b/c it's uncompressed. I had been looking at a standalone DVR unit, just for the handiness of recording some programs, but I may wait until there's one that draws less power.

Sacrilege!

Well, to clarify that, the context in which he was mentioned was in how Palin pulled him into the conversation with a wink-wink while talking about the sanctity of life and her anti-abortion stance... with the intimation that she didn't abort her baby with DS, so what's with people who support abortion of perfectly healthy babies? As such, Trig was mentioned in context to Palin's beliefs, and iirc she did not shy away from that conversation or say that it was off-limits. BTW, I didn't say I lived under a rock, and I did/do read online news from major e-paper sources. But like I said, I can't speak about what was said on cable news of whichever leaning, b/c I generally steer clear of cesspools. And then again, some of the nastiest stuff to come out in '08 against McCain-Palin was from some people who were pissed that their evangelical minister candidate Mike (Pardon Me!) Huckabee didn't get the nod.

I do believe that this was mentioned in that it is only the latest domino to fall in a short string that may affect the Bills' camp at SJF if the labor situation isn't settled very soon.

The ones who were minors and didn't inject themselves into the campaign? I would give a slightly unqualified 'Yes.' I don't watch much news and don't have cable to watch all that junk.... But I don't remember hearing a terribly much about the younger ones who didn't do much more than stand on a dais and wave. Bristol Palin voluntarily put her life into the mix. Even their older military son didn't get much mention... again, at least of what I heard and read, because he didn't stand up and start talking. Once you do that, you're fair game.

Gay marriage bill passes in NY Satisfied? Amazing how in the other six states, I haven't heard a peep about a gay couple suing to be able to get married in a church. I have witnessed a young cousin of mine (who didn't know the rules) denied communion at my niece's christening, b/c she wasn't Catholic. Religions have been allowed to exclude whomever they wish for whatever reason they wish from their rites for millennia. What makes you think this is all going to suddenly change? The churches are free to turn away anyone, they are free to not recognize the marriage religiously, they are free to call the police if an unwelcome gay couple trespasses on their grounds (albeit, that would be kind of weird, given the Lord's Prayer...). As I've said, I believe in the Constitution. And within that document is an equal protections clause. Equal protections under the law for all citizens. Not equal protections only for certain sub-classifications of citizens.

In all fairness, she really seemed to be answering as to how the predicted "viciousness" of the next election will impact her family e.g. Sasha and Malia. And in that, the media have really respected the First Family's privacy and left the girls alone. Sure, she completely seemed to miss the intention of the question... but that's what she was alluding to. Not that I see '12 getting particularly nasty, unless a longshot Republicans like Bachman (or Palin [shiver down the spine]) gets the nod. If the Republicans nominate someone who focuses almost entirely on the economy, jobs and debt, they win big. It doesn't have to get nasty. Like I've said before, think deja vu of the '80 election. Reagan won that with tactful charm and asking a simple question --- "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

Well, there's every chance that the negotiations will be infringing into Training Camp schedules. And, any time that can be saved by not having to pack up everything, travel a couple hundred miles, unpack... then repack, travel a couple hundred miles and unpack again will be all the more time they can devote to installing their system, do evaluations, etc.

I didn't subject the Libya action to a force-level comparison to Iraq. Where did I say those things? YOU. Yeah... the totality of reasons for war are never so simple. Vouchsafe that putting the squeeze on Iran vis-a-vis their nuclear ambition was a sizable consideration / side benefit. To a certain extent, any commander-in-chief's hands are pretty well tied into doing what the rank-and-file military's strategic goals are. If he (or she) goes too far against the military's interests, they run the risk of losing the support of their military. And that's a dangerous situation to be in for a civilian commander of any country... even here.

GK didn't have anything to do with "Fargo" that I know of.... But incidentally, the derivation of "Yah" would seem to be the Scandinavian "Ja" affirmative, with the J pronounced as a Y. When I was young, my Freisland (that is the barrier island region at the very, very north) Dutch grandmother used to call me "Yames" or "Yimmy."

So. To summarize here.... - The size of the helmet decal is roughly the same as it was on the red helmets. The leak from the other week was, as most people figured, was of a replica helmet, which usually have smaller logos than the authentic Riddell Pro Line ones. - The socks are different from the Madden 12 leak. That game had players in white jerseys & blue pants wearing blue socks, which was out of balance and looked like ****. The white uni set tonight had a white version of the socks.... - .... But curiously absent were blue pants. (I'm not against against this, actually. I'm not a fan of the blue pants, and it would eliminate any chance of there being a royal-blue-monotone atrocity). The all-white set from the 50th anniv. AFL set looked awesome last season. - The navy piping/drop shadow(?) on the jerseys worn by the retired players (very likely replica jerseys) was considerably larger than the piping on the soldier models, which ostensibly were authentic jerseys. They will probably look better when watching on the HDTV and the navy piping fades into the shot b/c of the distance. - On the soldier models (who were wearing shoulder pads), the sleeve stripes appeared in practicality to be curved over the shoulder almost like the Colts' jersey striping, rather than staying remaining on the upper-arm section of sleeve. I wonder whether this was as planned, if they had trouble fitting the jerseys over the shoulder pads and whether it will sort itself out as each individual player has their jersey tailored specifically. - To my eye, the front numbers were just set too low, being knocked down by an overly-buffered 'BILLS' word-mark. I think the charging buffalo logo above the nameplate and on the pant-stripes is overdoing it just a bit. - Can't tell for sure, but it does look like the numbers are screen-printed, not tackle-twill / stitched. So, this is the gist of what was unveiled and some minor nit-picks. A huge improvement over the 2002 navy set and white-with-navy-yoke jerseys. Gotta say that I still prefer the throwbacks, though. Either way, I'm not going to be plinking down ~$200 for a piece of cloth with a number on it that will see light wear. I stopped wearing jerseys in high school; I mean, c'mon....

He tells all manner of Scandinavian jokes (including that specific one in his annual Joke Show) with nationalities intermixed.

Well, Garrison Keillor would probably have you up on charges!

Well, to be certain, that was a major point. Of course, WMD was the money shot, but "the slaughter of innocent Iraqi citizens" was a big feature of the foreplay after Gulf War I (and why we kept the No-Fly Zone) and leading up to the 2003 invasion. Bush cited it plenty of times.

That is a punchline fail. 1) It's "extroverted vs. introverted" not "introverted vs. normal" 2) You're only supposed to say the first sentence there, with emphasis on the word "your." The listener is supposed to infer the rest... them figuring it out is part of the joke.

More than just a rumor now.... Buffalo Sabres sign purchase agreement with the Rochester Americans Pegula!

I thought there was a more substantive thread on this here, but a quick search of the archives came up with nothing.... UPDATE on this story that further proves the ATF's incompetence and agenda-ridden tactics. Obama likes to tout that guns smuggled into Mexico from the U.S. is what's causing all the violence, no doubt as a vehicle for federal gun control measures. Well, 1) it's been proved by CBS in their series that 90% of the cartel's supply is smuggled in from Mexico's SOUTHERN border and 2) Of those that went across the U.S. border, most of them came from the ATF in "Project Gunrunner," which was supposed to track the movement of the guns and follow with arrests... except that the guns weren't tracked and there've been no arrests. Only a dead Border Patrol agent (widely believed to be fired from one of the ATF-provided weapons), and now, confirmation that ATF-provided AK-47s were used in the torture and murder of a Mexico state attorney's brother. Link The more details that come out on this, just further shows the ATF's warped and gun-grabber agenda-driven methodology. This agency needs to be reigned in, and the people behind this clusterf--- need to be put in jail themselves.