UConn James

Caption contest for the tattoo above her babymaker! "Insert payment below before use"

This is an issue where I, too, have been alarmed at the lack of discussion. However, I would say to anyone who's going to originate a topic on PPP, please provide something to go on from both angles --- it shows you're actually interested rather than making some partisan point or other. These are some rather good primers: Obama plan McCain plan Comparison b/w the two plans Obama plan: I'm probably not alone in my qualms about this kind of tinkering that doesn't really accomplish anything. Getting the federal govt involved in the reinsurance business is just asking for bad news. He plans to spend a boatload of $ upfront to first get everyone in the system, then preaches that his cost savings (where so many others' cost savings plans haven't held water) will keep the annual cost at $50-65B, which many say isn't feasible (even Hillary has it at $100B), even with an optimistic view. Like most of the criticism about Obama up to this point, his plan is a little vague in how it will actually cut costs. His plan takes a big bite that I'm not sure the country can chew. Then again, we can't keep up the current stresses on the system before it breaks for everyone. McCain plan: He has a pretty classic conservative viewpoint. Reduce costs, and more people will be able to have access to health insurance. I think he's intimating that the best thing would be for people to purchase their own insurance in a market-based way. Some of the tenets in his plan have me making a face. Short on details of how his changes would impact a broad range of average people... from the sick vs. the healthy, the old vs. the young as it relates to the possibility of employers dumping their insurance programs and giving employees the difference in wages and the deal with the $5K tax credit. There's a lot in his plan that makes me believe that it could actually substantially increase the number of people who are uninsured. Also, there's the problem of... if he picks Romney as his VP as many in the Republican circles are leaning toward, it opens up a can of worms on this issue. Then again, living w/in the Boston market, I heard lots about this at the time and there are major differences in the size, scope and fundamental structure of healthcare in Mass. and simple geography/logistics as opposed to how such a plan would work in other states or nationwide. The Mass plan has spurned health care proposals in other states (California? and here in CT with the Charter Oak Health Plan) to cover the uninsured with lower-cost plans; I think encouraging individual state-by-state plans would be a more practical solution than one-size-fits-all on the federal level. Right now, I'm looking at both and not liking either one overmuch.

So, various persons' bullsh-- reasoning for why they're voting for Candidate X affects anyone else's vote how? Neither McCain nor Obama can control who votes for them or for what reason. I don't get why some people get so worked up by endorsements. And I had dinner last night with my uncle who hanged Howard Stern out of a window (and he was this ][ close to letting go) back when Stern was at WCCC in Hartford. Stern was an * then and he's an even bigger * now.

I was just sayin', guys.... Like I said, I don't know how much it matters. Anyway, I think RG's problems are mostly mental. For throwing accuracy, the mechanics seems all right, it's just that something doesn't click in the head to determine the right spot/placement where the ball needs to go. This isn't Trent's problem at all. If he survived last season... and I'm not even going to type on from there b/c there's no wood to knock here. Saw that JP started a beard and greased his hair back. Kind of a weird look, but I guess whatever gets him away from the Adam Sandler comparisons. Good to see he's out there, having fun and accepts/understands his role for this year.

Yeah, that struck me too. Thought it might've been the angle but it's the same in other shots. I'm not sure how much they can be built up, nor am I sure how much it really matters. His legwork last year wasn't a problem, but it may go in the 'durability' category --- I think this was a similar knock on Rex Grossman when he was drafted.

Wiki link A little flitty for my taste. But hell... it's a free country.

Link the First Link the Second Good stuff, man!

What with the Olympics coming up very soon, this is a chance for countries around the world to put animosity aside, and for the best to compete against the best on an equal stage and show good sportsmanship to the winners as much as to those who finished last. At its best, all the flags of the world come together in peace and depart in peace. I was incensed at the protests that spouted into rioting during the Olympic torch relays. Political statements and rhetoric are not what the Games are intended to showcase (one of the reasons why the Salt Lake 2002 presentation of the WTC flag didn't quite sit well for me). I will be cheering on the Netherlands/Holland (heritage) and the USA. So, it's now disappointing that Iraq will not be represented in Bejing. Admittedly small, with only four competitors, it's the ceremonial aspect that stinks, that they won't be included. Like in so many other instances, the pols ruin things for their citizens.

Actually, in this specific case, there is room for the Hula Hoop company to claim trademark infringement. I don't think that's overstepping authority. Someone shouldn't be allowed to name themselves Coca-Cola if the company takes umbrage. Then again, the Red Sox CF is named Coco Crisp. In most cases, a name issue fleshes itself out in time (i.e. this girl tells people to call her K, which might lead to a spelling of "Kay" or what have you), just it's pretty sh--ty that childrens' parents do this to them. I wouldn't be opposed to a change in paperwork wording that a name must consist of nouns. I also wouldn't be opposed to someone slapping these people alongside the head.

I would have made it clear to the entire unit that they would "now be doing D'Same 200 push-ups every morning" b/c of this wise-ass. See how fast his name is changed back when he gets some friendly persuasion. ---- I'm of two minds on this one. On one hand, you should be allowed to name your children what you want, within reason. And then, there's those dumbasses who scar their kid for life either b/c they're looking for a little bit of money from marketing deals (i.e. Hula Hoop sponsorship) or they're just plain idiots. As such, a name is a proper noun and should therefore not include a verb and direct object. 'Talula' itself would be fine. If you want to create a website that claims Talula does the Hula, go for it. It's really a mark of how stupid the human race has become, and further than that, wastes a court's time (then again, maybe its a slow docket month).

That's like saying Jocelyn Elders forced Bill Clinton into masturbating a banana.

What? The govt is just enforcing the little-known Amendment 28 of the Constitution: Section 1. The Congress, with the input of the Treasury, shall have the power to make sure banks and their stockholders never lose money in the conduct of their business, provided they are sufficiently large. Similarly, when large swaths of people lose money or property due to their own stupidity or forces majeures which regularly occur in a part of the Nation they chose to live in, members of the Congress and the Executive shall console and comfort, then break out the wheelbarrows of cash.* Section 2. Transfer payments are sweet when it's someone else's money you're doling out! Try it sometime! * Make sure to spread this concept around the world wherever we spread Freedom. Free money!!! ---- Glad to see our steadfast president has really stuck to his guns on this bill.

(OK, so it's a couple of flitty kids re-enacting the commercial. Still gotta be worth, like... $250K.)

Nice piece. From the coverage at the time, I wasn't sure whether he was a Bills fan (in different interviews they had season tickets to the Orioles and Nationals and went to some Redskins games). Glad to hear the Bills obsession lives on. Luke, your dad is still in our thoughts.

Update: Administration Calls for Action on Detainees First trial, of OBL's driver, started today.

1) You're giving him until Week 10?!? By your tone on this board, I'd have you pegged for calling for his and Edwards' heads if we don't score on the first drive of the preseason. 2) JP threw JP under the bus. And anyway, that wasn't Schonert's call. An idiom consisting of busted plays and the long bomb might get wins against Miami or the Jets in their down years but your team will never run with the big dogs like that. Sorry. There's countless anecdotes about guys who were playing one day and on the bench the next in favor of the new guy. Where was the (non-feigned) outrage for Coy Wire? Why did no one stick up for Robert Hicks? Oh, wait. They weren't QBs. It's trite, but Glanville's "Not For Long" sums the league up perfectly. If Trent can't develop a full game in 2-3 more years, guaranteed he's on the skids too. 3) How about Sparano whose resume is almost entirely OL coach, now he's Parcells' boy. Looks like Turk was comfortable where he was most effective. It shouldn't be a read on how capable he understands/is able to conduct an offense. There's question marks about him, sure, but training camp hasn't even started and you're on the guy's breasts already. If you're bothered by fluff pieces, then God help you come training camp time. And pretty much any other living, breathing moment b/c it's ~60% of "journalism" now.

It kind of disingenuous to be making these kinds of predictions based on relatively recent-past growth being representative of future population growth. Africa and India will have population booms? How? Life requires resources. More life requires more resources. Famine in Africa. AIDS and other diseases getting more widespread. There's only so much that nature allows before she puts a check on things. I don't mean to sound cold-hearted, it's just the way things are. Nor am I worried that everybody would suddenly scream, "Kill Whitey!" BTW - What's the deal with all of these white fear articles, anyway? What agenda do they serve? [Deep Voice] 'You'd better bow down to darkie now before he outnumbers you, and then he might let you live'? [/Deep Voice] It was used as a veiled threat following the Civil War, like in Langston Hughes poems, now put in a global scope? For the internal US racial debate, combine that with the numbers of interracial marriages and offspring, and what is the word "race" even going to mean in 50 years' time? Are we going to use blood quantums? Seriously, WTF. Besides, Thomas Newton predicted from all his study that the world would end sometime before 2060, anyway. (But you know, he was a smart dude, and the way things are going....)

"Not going anywhere for awhile?" I'd forgotten about that one.

It's carefully coordinated with the team nutritionist (I forget whether the conditioning coach has much, if any, input in this area), and it's individualized to each player's needs/goals. Such as if they need to lose or gain weight, muscle/fat ratios, etc.

I believe there was a piece on this time out of mind ago. Don't remember if it was from BN, RD&C, bb.com or elsewhere. Perhaps our resident guru-of-all-things-Bills Lori will come through in the clutch, yet again. They ran a list of what quantities of such-and-such food from the menu was eaten over a time period. And it was massive. As they say, an army fights with its stomach.

Awesome idea. Uses the Ralph for something rather than standing dark, subconsciously promotes the Bills, and possibly could charge for movies in the future... the drive-in concept is pretty dead, but this is a nice small payback/perk for a community that puts up with a lot of logistics headaches every fall.

Well, point of fact, the trials of some of the detainees will be starting soon. Kind of a test run of the system. As much as I agree with AD about the principle, the truth is where the rubber meets the road. Found a pretty good article here.

*Bump* The question stands.

The word now is that in addition to the "rip his nuts out" phraseology, the "Reverend" Jackson also dropped the N-bomb. Jesse, So sorry that Barak is cutting in on your scheme of getting filthy stinking rich by fleecing your followers and corporations who've given you, personally, millions of dollars and the lap of luxury to keep the 'We're victims of The System, not our own bad choices! Give us transfer payments and govt programs!' gravy-train alive. The America of 2008 is not the America of the Sixties. Vive le difference. Just hope this goes a little further toward making you irrelevant. Imus makes a bad but not ill-intentioned joke about someone's appearance and Sharpton goes at him like a boxing match, but when it's Jesse Jackson threatening to maim the genitals of the Democrat nominee (b/c he has the gall to say that fellow blacks need to make better decisions to improve their lives) and then drops the N-bomb that he's previously campaigned against all uses of.... well.... I guess "THAT'S DIFFERENT!"

What do you mean by not "as convenient"? Is it a finished basement? Stairs? Are you concerned about the logistics of getting the unit into the basement? We've got one here in the basement and for the number of times you have to go down there, it's usually "Honey, while you're doing wash, could you bring up a pork roast for Friday?" It's a big chest freezer, about 6'l x 3'w x 3'd, and it's old (~25 years) but it works like a champ and once it's frozen, the compressor doesn't run too much. We use ours pretty much like LA does, and for freezing strawberry/blueberry/rhubarb pickings, and for storing 1/4 cow when a farmer we know in town has one butchered (beats supermarket both in prices and taste). But hell, I don't think we need to sell you on one, you're just deciding b/w the basement or the garage. A link above states, "Choose a cool position. Placing a fridge or freezer in direct sunlight or next to an oven or other heat source can increase energy consumption substantially." I would think this is the same rule of thumb for putting an air conditioner in a shaded area rather than direct sun; I forget what the percentage it added to an energy bill was, I think 10-20%. I can't find anything on the Internets about the impact of a chest freezer in a varied-temp garage as opposed to a perpetually cool basement, but even if you go at the 10% assuming similar usage increase, that could be a fair amount per year depending on its original energy use. Weighing it all, I'd see how much of a hassle it would be to get it in the basement and if you could live with the travails of having to lug frozen lutefisk up the stairs. It's also a consideration of where you can most sacrifice any space the freezer will occupy. Being a lifetime member of the Man Club myself, I'm not prepared to give an inch of the garage b/c that just leads to a mile of spare shoes/dress/knitting accessory storage in a land where tools and touch-up paint buckets should reign sovereign. A pearl of wisdom from my old man: If you do put it in the basement, set it on top of some cement blocks/bricks (this goes for a furnace too). If a few inches of water ever gets in via foundation leaks or a basement sink or washer overflowing, etc., it won't kill your freezer... and on the other hand, if more than a few inches of water gets in, a dead freezer ain't your biggest problem.