UConn James

Majority on court seem skeptical of supplemental campaign grants

Let me conjure Tom's replies.... Hamlet: If he'd formed a workable strategy, he'd be King of Denmark and be banging Ophelia. Instead, he couldn't make a decision and stick with it, so the idiot took a dirt nap. Lord of the Rings: Not more f---ing elves! 1984: I once knew a guy named Winston Smith. He was a dumbass. But at least he could afford razor blades.

Link There's too much machination behind these laws for me to be comfortable. When Malloy got the governor nomination in CT, the Dem legislature then increased the financing to $6M. What's to stop a majority legislature from increasing public financing by fiat? Beyond concerns for the application of the laws, why should taxpayers be forced to foot campaigns out of the general fund, especially now? This is like giving Pepsi money to run ads against Coke just because Coke puts money into its marketing dept. Based on the court's recent campaign financing rulings, it's tough to picture these laws coming out unscathed.

So the "ancients" had audio spectrometers that could detect specific measurements of wavelengths... but they were still wiping their asses with their hands. Hmm. Unless by "ancients" she means people from the commune she was at in 2004... who wiped their asses with their hands.

It's a lot more than frustrating, AJ. It's a serious physical challenge. Most of those cups were gone by the end, and some teams had gotten it very early on. I wouldn't be surprised if Luke had drank 200 cups. At that point, it's not a matter of having to pee. The body is not like a sieve where liquids go out as fast as they go in. I'm really not over-exaggerating the effects when I say people have died from excessive fluid intake, even over several hours. Most notably in the past few years was a radio station that held a contest for a Wii. I really hope AR had medical personnel on site who could regulate intake, but I'm really not sure of that. The Globetrotter and Mallory were actually being very smart about it, and they dribbled a lot of tea onto their shirts. In one shot, you could see the Globetrotter just spitting it out. Luke, otoh, was really drinking all the tea. For the groups who didn't get it right away, this challenge was right up there with the 'find the plastic food sample' challenge in Japan last season. That was brutal. But to top it here, you can't really puke up much water once it's in your system. Like I wrote, I really hope they had a medical consultant. Water is looked at as generally innocuous in the public consciousness. But like a lot of things, not getting enough can kill you but too much can kill you, too. But with it, comes the risk of getting lost. The elephant doesn't move.

How rude was it that ALL of the teams were commenting about still being in China? Several years ago, I got into the habit of 4 p.m. tea time with a British-emigre couple I worked for during a summer. Being of partial Dutch heritage also, it was a callback to time spent at my grandparents'. Since then I've often taken 4 p.m. tea as a kind of communion, and have gone from classic Lipton decaf to a green tea period and now I'm really sticking with a Celestial Seasons Vanilla flavor. Really, if I were only allowed one flavor to have for the rest of my life it would be vanilla. Ice cream (Hood Vanilla Bean; Vanilla Coke (THE best).... Rest assured though, that I would probably go as nuts as Luke if forced to drink that much. I mean, seriously, people have died from drinking excessive amounts of liquids. It was nice to see the Indian guys rally around Luke and cheer him on at the end there. It's something you see in this kind of show that the people who have to judge a challenge have to be kind of stoic and not play favorites, but that was a thing of basic humanity. How dumb was that of Jen and Kisha --- didn't even open the bottle! Also nice that now, right at the end, they just gave Luke a nice chance to sign his thoughts. It's really great that AR hasn't been afraid of casting people with disabilities --- showing proof positive that they can handle stresses that even "normal" people have a hard time with --- and then they haven't been afraid of holding them to the same standards of the Race that they hold for everyone else.

No, he didn't hold on FGs. Probably b/c he was kicking them. As I wrote, Henery did double duty --- punting and kicking --- at Nebraska. There is certainly a back-up holder. Can't find it anywhere but IIRC, it's Fred Jackson.

Hmm. I had seen him listed as a 3rd not too long ago.... Seems like any concern about his elbow injury later in the year is gone now. I wouldn't be angry if we spent the #2 on him and let him learn from Fitzy for a year or two. Speaks well of his ability to get a playbook that he graduated in finance in 2 1/2 years. Ponder is probably the safest bet of any of the QBs this year.

I'd posit Christian Ponder out of FSU. He worked very well with Chan at the Senior Bowl.

There are many compensatory picks allotted each draft, based on how many unrestricted free agents a team lost versus signed. There's a small group that determines the values of the loss (based on several factors, e.g. size of UFA contract, playing time during the year, etc.) and sets the comp picks accordingly. You get that Lynch was traded to the Seahags, right? No compensatory picks for trades, as there's already been compensation.

Yeah, since it's basically a way to ensure you get a chance at a player who might see a better opportunity elsewhere as an UDFA, I was thinking along these lines as well. I've heard good things about the kid from Nebraska, Alex Henery, who can do double duty as a kicker AND punter. He averaged 43.9 yards last season, and had 26 dropped inside the 20, and made 89.5% of FGs in his career. Even if he concentrates on just one --- punting for us, as Moorman has really hit a wall and Lindell has done a very good job including from 50+ the past few seasons --- it's always nice to have a backup if Lindell should get injured. There is the possibility that eventually, he may be able to do both and save a roster spot. That might be a little risky, but remember how Billicheat had that punter who was the 3rd QB? Would allow you keep an extra LB or OL. This kid is projecting to the 4th according to this site, but it's always a crapshoot when kickers or punters will be chosen. The kid from Ohio State a few years back was supposed to be the Second Coming of Nick Lowery, was taken in the 2nd by the Jests and did a lot of nothing. That may have put off a lot of teams from selecting a kicker until late b/c the transition to the NFL, to excuse the wordplay, is hit or miss. Even if it is, say, the 5th round I'd be interested in getting Henery just for those coffin corners and pinbacks. As much as he did for this team for 10-11 years, Moorman just didn't look like the same guy --- wasn't hitting on his placements, had several gimmes that went in for touchbacks and even the inside-the-20s he got were mostly just inside the 20. My overall recollection last season was him unbuttoning his chinstrap and angrily flinging it to the other side. The one area I'm loathe to let go of him from is holding for Lindell's kicks, but that's just not enough to justify his spot. Chan should bring in a challenger to camp, as is usual, and if we're doing that it may as well be someone who has a chance to unseat, rather than it being a courtesy to some local kid from UBuff or Syracuse.

No real conspiracy. They probably just watched and said, "This dude is totally batsh-- crazy. [pause] Let's cast him!" The challenges are really skillset-dependent. I wouldn't automatically count purple out. Once the merge comes, a number of the things that are simmering right now look like they're going to boil over. For one, once Rob uses that idol he's going to be a marked man and will likely have to win individual immunity. Grant, especially, is going to be pissed.

What does one have to do to get the title "futurist"?

Stephanie may talk a big game, but she really hasn't been very productive in the challenges. In the blindfold & word puzzle game, she had the main word minutes before Rob and couldn't come up with two small middle words even as Rob had a piece laying on the ground. Last night she was very unimpressive in deploying the ball. Yellow (Natalie) kept going to Grant, a former NFL player. Purple has their own former NFLer in Steve, and I don't think he wasn't even among her targets. Just from their configuration of who was placed where (they chose their pole assignments), purple had no chance in that challenge. I wouldn't have voted Sereta off just because she opted out, but that didn't help her case. Going into next week, her ability with her tooth situation is a concern.

From Jeff Probst's blog: Purple is definitely in trouble now. Obviously, if they can't win challenges.... This is the point where the Big-6 alliance has to break apart as it forms sub-groups that Krista pointed out at tribal last week. They're all going to have to work it to set some things up in case they lose. Yellow pretty much knows who it's going to vote off next (Philip). The day before/of the challenge is going to be critical for purple. Those divisions can really creep into how the tribe performs for immunity --- for good or bad. The circumstances of Russell's departure did play into it; it would be foolish to say otherwise. But I also think that wasn't where purple went wrong. Nor could it have been different based on the personalities they have in that tribe. As I believe AJ wrote, the only avenue Russell has left for any future Survivor is in an All-Stars edition. His reputation is an albatross that needs to be among other people with albatrosses to have a fair shot. I'm not sure why he agreed to appear in a season with a bunch of noobs. Rob has managed to control his group so far, perhaps b/c it has a number of somewhat naive youngsters. Neverthless, I think their unspoken strategy may well be that once the merge hits and it's "every man for himself," they take out purple's remnants and then backstab Rob the first chance they get. His idol has some significance, and the fact that he's managed to keep it secret so far is very much in his favor. As soon as he hears whispers.... Probst also defends "spa day" in this post.

As Matt and Christa were reading their bible, Natalie and Ashley were THIS ][ short of breaking out into soft-core porn. Philip had a big problem with this. I say, "Shut the ---- up, Philip! Grab a water, sit back and enjoy!" Instead, it's up to Rob to explain, "They're girls!" That's kind of sexist of him (OK, at least it's less sexist than what I just wrote...). Meanwhile, Sereta was apparently dumb enough to brush her teeth with a stick. You really can't go 39 days without brushing? Grant was the man in the challenge --- showing what got him into the NFL --- while the other dude was ripping his shirt off. What the hell was with that? Stephanie was trying to finagle her way ahead of Sereta in the pecking order. It didn't work. So apparently, purple is willing to take an injured player into the next challenge. They had been playing smart right up until tonight. Now there's division in their ranks, ostensibly with the Sereta voters vs. Dave. Matt again survived on Redemption Island. Really strong player, and I'll take odds that he's going to get back in, probably at the merge. But at that point, he may well have to ally with Yellow again.

Also, I caught "Limitless" a couple of days ago. It was entertaining enough, but it got a little draggy. I don't understand why the character doesn't go to Vegas and clean up instead of borrowing cash from a Russian mobster, but then that would preclude an action plot element. Its ending was morally bankrupt. Pale-fonted for spoilerage: He faced no prosecution for possibly killing the model (says he doesn't remember b/c he was on the ZMT(?) --- yeah, that's a great excuse!), he's ostensibly on a cleaner/purer version of the drug (that makes it OK to use drugs?), and worst of all [shudder] --- he's running for the U.S. Senate!

I'm a picky eater myself, but I'd be OK with the popcorn in a bag if it were unflavored or something like kettle corn. But, yeah, the butter mixture they put on that stuff is highly suspect in a LOSTian "DHARMA Ranch Dressing doesn't need to be refrigerated" kind of way. On the relatively rare occasion I make popcorn here, it's the Boy Scout plain kernels in the hot air popper, with some melted butter (real butter from a stick like Julia Child), some black pepper and a bit of Kraft parmesan. I don't like anyone eating on the sofa, tho; that's the reason it's rare.

I'm sorry, but you can't write something like that and then not offer an explanation (or expect that one will not be demanded)!

Cara was a tough read. I wouldn't say that I didn't like her. Her personality was pretty much subsumed by Jamie's.

Democrats were against "offense is the best defense" before they were for it.

I've only caught the odd episode and the finale in the past couple of seasons....

Or, his tantrums and unawareness will cause actual bodily harm. He nearly closed a car door on Christina's legs last night. I'll agree on your first two, and then go with LaKisha and Jennifer --- they've been quiet so far (not a bad thing) and I don't recall them doing badly on any challenges. How was that with the Cowboys last night, dead-lifting the solar panel boxes at both ends, one in each hand. Very obviously, none of the other teams was acquainted with manual labor. The Globetrotters strapped 'em on their backs in a way that just invites injury, and the others had absolutely no idea how to move heavy items. Need to squat and lift the weight with your thighs! What'd Jed/Cord say --- 'Control that burn!'?

Lot of stuff went down in this ep --- too much for me to even want to try recapping. It's hard to even keep track of who was in what place last time and where they are now. Not a fan of the "you're still racing!" concept. So in the aftermath of the continuation, all hell breaks loose. Kent and Vixen went from almost hopelessly last to contending. That really sucked that they used the U-turn... but I understand it strategically. Such bad luck for Jamie and Cara to have their driver stop for gas to really screw them over for the second time to end a race. If they aren't delayed there, they don't get U'd. But it may not have made a difference given the last task. But I can understand what aj (I think it was aj) wrote at the start that Jamie loses some of her allure when you see her personality. I realize that travel and a race like this can bring out a lot of stress, but there's just the little brusk / offhand comments from her. Also come to realize just how much of her from, say, that recent NFL photo set, is artifice. That dinosaur skeleton challenge was a toughie. Those just seemed too large for one person. Greg and Mallory made exactly the right choice to use the express pass on it.

Umm... you realize that Ghadaffi/Kaddafy/Cadhaphi/Kedafe/Quadaffi/Gedaphfi (Who knows. One (or all) of these may be correct) is still in power over like 90 percent of Libya, right? And that this action is not intended to remove him? If we're intent on protecting these people in these few areas, we're going to need to be there for the rest of Ghadaffi/Kaddafy/Cadhaphi/Kedafe/Quadaffi/Gedaphfi's natural life, and his sons'.