UConn James

Doesn't matter a whit that he's not an elite safety. There is a team out there who will give him insane money in FA, by justifying that DW played in a bad defensive system. And hey, looking at Jim Leonhard, they may be right. Doesn't make Whitner worth all that scratch when someone else can come in without too steep a decline. Invest in the line and the front 7. Putting your heavy investmest into DBs is a losing strategy.

I have a few close relatives, including a brother, who've dated/married a woman with a kid/kids, including one who was ~ 3 at the time and is now 9. Set down one ground rule early. Bear in mind that the scope of this broadens as your relationship with the mother deepens.... In matters of reasonable parental discipline, if she ever comes out with a line similar to, "Don't tell my son what to do!" her or your things will be packed up on the porch, ready to go, within an hour. If she doesn't respect your ability to guide a child under your roof, then get out. Those words were IN EVERY CASE the onset of bad tidings, including nasty divorce in all but one case. When a child learns that when you tell them to do something they don't like, all s/he has to do is run to mommy, then YOU become virtually powerless over your own life.

On over-the-air broadcast, I was sayin'. Still, my heart is a few sizes larger wrt the network execs than it was a few days ago. Might pick up PE on Blu-ray....

Many/most municipal buildings do not allow firearms on the premises, per their signage. I'm not necessarily advocating here for there to be open- or concealed-carry with permits in these spaces (if possible, there should be an armed officer in the meeting room) but I do know that many incidents like this are ended by law-abiding citizens with firearms who show up faster than the police who usually get there 5 minutes after it's all over. Personal security has always been and will always be, largely a self-help matter. You can close your eyes to that fact and wish all the guns in the world were melted down in a big pot, but wishing doesn't make it so. Good citizens must be allowed to be armed to protect themselves and others from the evil/hellbent. "Please don't. Please don't" is not the only response I'd want to be left with. That's the last bleat of a lamb before the slaughter.

That was such a stupid move on her part. That act could easily have set off someone who had been hesitant to kill before that point and moreso seemed to want to commit "suicide by cop." There's a reason why police say not to do things like that unless it's a last-ditch effort. At that point, it wasn't. And if you are going to take action, do it with something a little more potent than a purse. Grab a fire extinguisher and spray the POS (that foam material comes out super-cold) and then hit his arm while he's stunned.

Looked on tvtitan and saw that the holiday airing schedule I looked at mislabeled some things as being on ABCFamily when they are on ABC. The Santa Clause movies are on Sunday evening (12/19), and the Grinch special followed by the Jim Carrey Grinch movie is on the 23rd. No Polar Express this year, tho. That would be funny if it weren't so true and sad. B/w MJ and his own family, they screwed him up pretty good.

+1 I want to punch my radio when it comes on. It's just "Simply having a wonderful Christmastime" repeated about 220 times. WTF?

NYT: Rabbit Ears Perk Up for Free HDTV And supplement with Hulu/Netflix/www.channelsurfing.net

I was wondering... where was your annual thread about dates/times/channels of Christmas shows on TeeVee. Then I looked at a schedule, and there's almost nothing on the broadcast channels. Last year, we had The Polar Express and the Santa Clause movies. This year, if you want anything besides "It's a Wonderful Life" on NBC on Christmas Eve, it's on ABC-Family on cable. Or, in the case of Rudolph and Charlie Brown Christmas, it aired in frickin' November! Seriously, who came up with the scheduling this year?

He's cost us how many games on KO fumbles? Not looking like this is his day....

AVG is bloatware anyway. It used to slow my old computer to a crawl at startup. I'd uninstall and use Avast. Have had this since May (on a recommendation from Dean, Fez, et al in the TBD Consumer board) and it's worked wonderfully.

And yet, there's a war going on that many of those in the military have seen firsthand. A war against people who believe it's a war of religion and who will do anything to kill Americans. Vague threats of what percentage might be less inclined to re-up or join because some Tim who's nine bunks over is dating a dental hygienist named Steve... well, it just holds very little water. People join the military to defend much higher values than who's boinking whom. And it's not like this stuff isn't known w/in a unit anyway. DADT is a macrocosmic policy. In the microcosm, it plays a little differently.

Stop with the platitudes? How about you stop promoting segregation. It smacks of the "I'm afraid he's going to pull the stiff one-eye on me" homophobia, as if gays / lesbians can't keep it in their pants. It's a slow process to give citizens their rights? I hate that argument. It's akin to the South's argument that slavery was needed so blacks wouldn't go hungry / homeless / start raping white women / etc. off the plantations. When in doubt, Freedom First. And like taking off a Band-Aid, faster is better. Plinking it one hair at a time does nothing but prolong the pain. And if anyone has a problem with other people they work with finally receiving their freedom, they can get a job outside the military (Oh, wait. There aren't any!) or move to friggin' Kuwait.

Wow. Awesome move to shore up the BE. I know everyone thinks of the conference as a weak sister in the BCS stuff, but this adds instant creds. Improving programs in Rutgers, Pitt and UConn.... A number of people are upset that a 4-loss team from the BE will be going to a major bowl game (as of this writing, if my alma mater beats S. Fla, they are guaranteed a tie for the conference title). Well, be upset all you want. Cry about only wanting undefeated teams in the bowls. I call a a good deal of bulls--- on that. Conference play is tough. And just the way the NFL is set up to take division winners plus 2 wild cards, the system should be set up in a way that rewards teams that play in tough conferences and knock the s--- out of each other. Northeast / midwest teams and conferences that make their bones on tough defenses and solid running games are at a serious disadvantage. Well, we'll see what happens from here. The shake-ups just got started this past summer; many are predicting just as much movement (or more) this off-season. This brings the BE-football schools to 9.... Would be really nice to bring that number up to the standard 12. Personally, I think UBuff would be a great addition to the BE. Also, they really ought to be renaming these conferences when the re-alignment stuff is completed. PAC-10 and Big-10 that have 12 teams, the Big 12 that has 10 teams, now the Big East with a team from Texas.... Tough to have to re-brand conferences, but these names just don't fit anymore (for starters, they ought to keep numbers out of it).

There's a pretty good read on LOST here, now that we've had 6 months to digest the finale. Really helps stitch together the themes of faith and sacrifice. The part about Locke's "faith" being his belief in an unknown destiny is a really great look into his character that I never fully appreciated before. On topic, tho, I stopped watching The Event after ~ the 3rd episode, and I stopped on it a couple of weeks ago as a guy and the lady who used to be on ER were opening some kind of gelatinous safe. All right, enough of that. I do hear that Carlton Cuse is producing a series (and one of the main LOST writers is writing) set during the Civil War and ABC picked it up recently.

I don't get the point of separate barracks for gays/lesbians. As it is now, they are serving in secret --- but they are serving. Is there a massive wave of male-male or female-female rape occurring in barracks that mandates --- let me check again to make sure that's the implication...yes, it's what you're suggesting --- segregation? In the general population, even the high estimates are that ~10 percent of the population is G/L. I don't think an end to DADT is going to result in recruiting doors being knocked over with gay/lesbian applicants.... Ending this is a matter of principle that the military must get in line with the rest of the country and not be given carte blanche to discriminate in hiring on the basis of sexuality. The benefit costs are something that needs to be looked at, but what's the difference whether they're being paid to same-sex partners or straight? There'll be a marginal increase, but it's the cost of doing the right thing. And I'm sure there will be some savings from ending the processes required to prop up the administration of DADT. "EQUAL JUSTICE FOR ALL," it reads on the Supreme Court building. The point of all this is that this creed does not mean "SEMI-EQUAL JUSTICE FOR MOST." I'm reminded of the Dickens quote of Mr. Dorritt, when told he would be in debtors' prison for just a little while longer: "You talk easily of hours, sir. How long do you think an hour is to a man who is choking for want of air?" DADT WAS the baby-step. It's time to get this done and live up to the ideals of freedom.

And worked not-at-all on every other play. Just wonderin'... since the Bills are paying him $24M, could Kelsay be bothered to learn another move that has more chance of success than allowing himself to be circled 15 yards behind the QB by the matador Tackle? Pretty sure there wasn't a fumble on that play....

Probably should've tried a FG in one of those OT trips. On that second punt by Moorman, you just knew the luck wouldn't hold.

I don't exactly think Big Ben should be raising his hands in triumph. Dude just eeked out a win against THE worst defense in the league.

[Chris Berman voice] NOBODY shoots themselves in the foot like the Buffalo Bills! [/Chris Berman voice]

Lucked into that sack.

Sorry, but the truth is that he's the guy who frequently ALMOST makes a play. If I'm a T and Kelsay is lining against, all I have to do is wide-circle him past the QB, right out of the play. He'll stick a hand out, get Oh-so-close and then 99 percent of the time *nothing*. He's the very definition of Tantalus.

WP: Troops buck historical trend by saying gays OK I don't think there's any reason to continue discriminating against young people who actually want to serve and fight for their country (tho I'm sure someone will come up with one). Sad that in the purported Land of the Free, gay/lesbian soldiers have had to sweep under the rug, part of their lives that has nothing to do with their service. I don't support a lot of the Obama agenda, but it's time for DADT to end. As a registered Republican, it shames me that such vitriol is spewed by some people under this same tent --- they are on the wrong side of freedom, not to mention that the rising tide of opinion (read: votes) is against them. There would also be a savings for the military courts to not have to adjudicate these cases anymore.

Too bad they couldn't work their way to stitch up his mouth while they were in the vicinity.

I guess the Bills did the equivalent of lynching Trent Edwards.