UConn James

I'm not seeing anything about snow. Temps here in CT throughout this thing are still projecting 60s as a high and 50 as a low. It's going to be wind and rain.

Bayonets! I'll grant that Obama's probably not intentionally lying. He's just !@#$ing clueless about the military. Infographic: https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/561792_500560579957078_368077649_n.jpg?dl=1

Gotta say that Romney was channeling Reagan last night. Tough but cool.

So, let's just go over something here.... Obama said that AQ has been "decimated" and terrorists are "on the run," we've made friends with all the world, and terrorists have gotten the message that when they attack Americans, they'll be brought to justice.... the most important national security risk for the future is.... terrorism. Wait. Are they decimated... or are they America's biggest threat? I'm sorry, but a nuclear Iran --- as Romney said --- would make no compunction about bombing Israel and from there, EVERYTHING goes to stevestojan INSTANTLY the whole world over, not just isolated pockets of opportunistic attacks.

Sophomore slump, like Marcel Dareus?

Coke... is a HELL of a drug!!! But seriously, that sugar and caffeine combo? More addictive than heroin. http://articles.nydailynews.com/2008-12-12/entertainment/17912875_1_sugar-dopamine-sweet-addiction People can laugh and mock this all they want. It is a struggle. The note's worked so far! And I gave the chair away this afternoon, so I'll be getting an exercise mat (tile floor in the basement) and that's going to become my Crunch Corner, and I'll get a few dumbbells. Nothing fancy or outlandish. I really don't need to lose pounds --- just need to tone up what I've got.

There are also sources out there who blame Romney for the roof panel collapse in that Big Dig tunnel that crushed a woman. Of course... Romney had wanted to replace the (Republican) head of the transportation authority left over from the previous admin due to his incompetence but the MA legislature tied both hands behind Romney's back... until the collapse, when they let Romney fire the dude and then blamed him for the shoddiness of a project for which he was governor for the final two years of wrap-up construction. There's probably sources out there who blame him for the 100-year flooding and dam failure that threatened Worcester in 2005 when we had 22 straight days of heavy rains in the northeast. But back in reality, Romney stepped in, closed down tunnels, ordered inspections and began the process of holding the contractor of faulty securing bolts liable according to the terms of the contract. Then, he directed resources to replace piping and do necessary repairs on the break. Most other governors would have been at that microphone getting all the free publicity they could. Romney talked for like 5 minutes, then stepped aside and got back to work and ordered dam checks on public and private properties. Frankly, there are a lot of media outlets in MA that have no compunction about lying about Republicans' records and pull stories like this straight out of their *s.

Don't worry, Connecticut's illustrious tax-and-spend-Democrat-then-tax-and-spend-some-more Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is building enough light rail, bike paths, and bus lines (~$130M per mile from Hartford to New Britsky) to keep Pete's quest for movement avenues satiated. For now.

Well, it's also his fault for taking that gamble not to sign for whatever was offered and hoping to cash in for even bigger after this season. He just lost the gamble.

Well, the stevestojNny thing would be to get a reader-oriented one and then when they get comfortable with it, they're like, "Wouldn't it be great if it also had good Internet, camera, etc. It's cheaper to buy the one thing that can do multiple functions --- even if it's not used to full capacity --- rather than get all these things separately a little down the road. Definitely less clutter and makes life a little easier too. I wasn't impressed by the camera on the Nook. I dunno about the Fire. But the iPad's is great and has the retina display. Can be used as a digital photo display up the mantel, even. At the rate it uses electricity with just 10w (about 41 cents per year if you do a full charge every day. Which even as a heavy user, I don't). Use it to watch movies while washing the dishes, as a recipe reader while cooking, as a music player around the house, an alarm clock with an RSS feed as a free app.... It's all the ways that you don't know how they would want to use it with all the features it has & how it will be supported going forward with both updates and apps. And Fez, I use it to read in bed. It's fine. But even so, might be interested in the iPad Mini in that case. I haven't seen a price point for that yet....

Yeah, if Potter can't send KOs into the end zone as has been the case the last couple-few weeks, then WTF is he holding a roster spot for? Lindell can't do that? Lindell's gonna get leg fatigue from KOs in addition to his 2/2 FGs and some XPs through 1/3 of the season?

NYPost Exclusive: Obama campaign accepted foreign web donation --- and may be hiding more http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/bam_blind_eye_to_illegal_donors_8SWotytr1RvbhyDCRyyrEL That's a statistically significant gap, I'd say.... Also from the above posts, it is perfectly allowable to hold overseas fundraisers as long as any donations received come from U.S. citizens who are living/working in those countries. Being an "Expat" does not mean/imply rescinding citizenship --- at least most of the time it means they retain citizenship but are living abroad for reasons of pleasure, work, love, etc.

My father uses the iPad. And in case you're not gauging the affect of that statement... my father, the !@#$ing DINOSAUR uses the iPad!!!! My brother got a Nook b/c it was cheaper. The thing's a POS and the GUI is terrible. Again, MY FATHER(!) checks his email, marvels at the maps that he can zoom in and out on and even use as a GPS (even tho his nickname with us is "Rand McNally"), goes right in and opens up Netflix and plays a movie on the iPad. He can barely turn the Nook on before throwing it against my brother's sofa. It doesn't play Flash. That's the biggest knock I have. And, well, it costs more, at least at start-up. But I'll tell ya, I have a notebook and I literally haven't turned it on in two weeks.

WRT "binders" is this more of a New England word? It means a notebook to keep a collection of papers --- and in using it, Romney was saying he got a bunch of resumes of qualified women for his administration in MA. .... You know, during the debate, I kind of flashed on that old Calvin & Hobbes comic strip series where Calvin submitted a shoddy one-paragraph book report that he expected to get an A on it from Mrs. Wormwood because it was in "a clear professional plastic binder." I gotta admit that I was a little nonplussed when people the next few days were bringing up "binder" in some kind of sadomasichism toy sense. Again, is it New England word? I don't know. WRt the substance of the answer... well, here. Read this: http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/binders-full-of-women-and-the-partisan-mind/ While it didn't become 50-50 on his watch, Romney's administration hired significantly more women than previous MA governors'. It's not something that can be changed / equalized overnight. He did hire a number of women in prominent posts in his cabinet / directors. You can't dispute that. You can be a skeptic and say it was 'political pressure' and whatever other excuses you want to come up with for why he did the right thing, but... he did the right thing. And he'll do the right thing as president. You know, admittedly, he kind of whiffed on the question. If he didn't support the Lily Ledbetter legislation, he should have said why. I think it's probably because it falls on any employee to have some idea of their value to a company and to demand that value. Twenty or thirty years ago, it might have a point. But this day and age, we have computers and an amazing breadth of and access to information. If you look up your job's comparative salaries/wages and see that it's not in line with what you should be earning, then you talk to your boss and/or send out resumes. That's how it works. But from the hiring side, of course employers are going to try to get help for as cheap as they can --- for anyone, regardless of gender. Same way people take the cheapest bid for designing their kitchen or plowing their driveways. Is it fair? Maybe not. But it's incumbent on people to take some interest on what they're worth, and not sit in the same job for 20-30 years, never look into it, and assume they're getting paid equally. I don't think we really need to or ought to legislate and add more bureacracy for something that people should be doing their damn selves. Romney also whiffed that question in the sense that he didn't point out Obama's hypocrisy on the Lily Lebetter Act. It was reported some time ago that women working in the Obama White House --- right then, after LLA was signed sealed and delivered--- are making less money for the same job title as men! Some women were making $60K compared to men making $71K for the same exact job in 2011. So, with all due respect (... and it's not much) Obama can take his speechifying on 'equal pay' and shove it up his *. http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/101812-629933-obama-white-house-pays-women-less.htm

We too had a generator, and actually loaned another to our neighbor--- an old 200-pound workhorsehorse with an old Cummings(?) engine, but then again it probably runs better than and will outlast a lot of new ones... because that's the way stevestojan is built these days for our throwaway (vs. maintenance) society. Then, the generator we were using had a gas line problem and yet another generator that *we* borrowed --- this is getting complicated --- ran hot and fried our range's electronic panel ($150) and a few light bulbs and scared the stevestojan out of me. We did have power for periodic gaps, to run the water pump (we're on a well), juice to control the oil furnace, and do the chest freezer in the utility room and fridge/freezer. Took a bit of gas, which we were fortunate to have some in cans. So, ultimately, I suppose we were among the lucky ones in that scenario. But all around here were people who were completely lost without electricity. It really opens your eyes.

You can laugh, but it's there now. I don't know for sure whether it'll work, but it's going to be a little slap upside the head every time I get an urge for a hit of Coke.

The visual always just flashes back to a story out of Iraq several years ago of the prime minister Nouri al-Maliki handing out $50 bills (US Dollars) wherever he went to people who begged at his entourage. There was no recording system taking down names or whatever, no system of 'Muhammed Muhammed makes [$2] a day and has five children.' It was just essentially being like Jack Nickleson's Joker in the 1990 Batman movie, standing on a parade float and tossing out from black garbage bags full of cash. Now, in both cases, you can say that this is money going to people who need it. But it's a pretty damn effective way of buying a vote if you're like 'Hey, I've given you money that you didn't have to work for. The other guy is going to reduce the amount of free money you get.' Guess which one gets votes from enough interested people. Presidential elections today are won with ~44-46 million votes. How many people are on welfare, food stamps, etc. again??!? And there, all along, still sits the premonitious quote: "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler "Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic"

Not just calorically. I was kind of scared straight at the dentist. Terrible for the teeth, and when you get into that, it's not just 'Ooo, I gained some pounds and soda empty calories are a good part of it.' It's Dentist Bills in the hundreds of $ that is pretty directly related to the sugar acids eating away at your enamel and making it easier for cavities to form. I'm making a concerted effort to lay off the stuff other than like a once a week treat. In fact, I'm going to be making a tag for our remaining soda fridge pack that reads: "Unless it's dentist bills you seek, don't drink me but once a week!" Yeah... I'm doing that right now. I normally have really good willpower and temptation resistance, but the Coke habit is tough to break.

Amazing Race here we come!! I had been drinking soda quite a lot. I mean, you go to Sam's, get a whole case and you're like, welp, let's get crack in' and use this up. Used to drink a 20 oz. every day during college that was often my only calories of the day until ~ 4 p.m. I know. I know. Still eat like a bird during the daylight hours but have gotten a little pudge in the abs. (Then again, most people would still call me "Slim".) Metabolism has slowed down a bit, and I've probably been cooking too much of the comfort food for awhile... but scalloped potatoes are so friggin good! Am almost always moving tho. But yeah. Have cut way back on my Coke habit. More water, more juice especially cran which my uncle who had prostate cancer recommended because of what he was told/read. Also have the memories of Fundamentals of Nutrition class rumbling around in my head (most useful class ever). Otherwise, I do a garden every year ~ 8'x30' and get a good yield. So, you know, the fundamentals are there. Just need to practice more frequently and I need to start doing some sit-ups/crunches. We're moving a chair out of the finished basement and I think I'm going to do a little exercise area there. Have had a bit of a shock the past couple of weeks with my mum having stomach cancer. Small, operable. Her thing has always been sitting/resting/sleeping most of her time outside of work, sweets --- chocolate milk, midnight ice cream raids after she wouldn't eat the healthy food on her plate, candy.... History of diabetes on her side, too, and so it's like killing herself. And now, after this is done and it's outta her, it can go one of two ways. Either right back to it, or some wholesale change. A lot less red meat, pretty much cutting it out. More fruits/veg than we've been doing. Maybe auditing a nutrition class at the U so she can hear it from someone besides me that a 30 minute walk does not negate that cake and ice cream. Anyway, I've been rambling for awhile. Just kind of venting some thoughts here. Sorry.

GG, I'm surprised that you never heard of the term "mentally retarded." IIRC, that was the clinical terminology in use while I was in grade school....

It would be more cut'n'dried if language were static. But it isn't. There are any number of things for which ANY word that is used for it, even a purely clinical nonjudgmental descriptor quickly becomes a pejorative no matter how much those clinical people want to maintain it as a nonpejorative. Take words that describe human waste --- they ALL become off-color. Even when the so-called clinical terms are used, the person saying it almost always hesitates/pauses to non-verbally communicate that they're not using it crudely. Similarly, words for black/African-American/n-----/negro/etc. have changed back forth as to what's 'acceptable'/polite usage. Same with gay/homosexual/fag/queer/etc. 'Retarded' is currently in a state of flux, I'd say. Rude, but being used more and more and more colloquially as mentioned above. Describing people with Down's and other conditions, it's now pretty difficult to come out with the clinical word because that which is deemed offensive is changing and/or anything used to describe it can be deemed offensive by different people. Yes, I too frown on using "retarded" like this. But, realistically, you probably shouldn't get too upset. As David Gray sings, in "December": "Words don't bother me no more"....

You know, when you divorce yourself from the situation, it is easy to fall into the comment I made above. It kind of turns into an abstract. And that may be exactly what Obama was talking about --- in the abstract. But as President, in a situation like this, you can't deal in abstracts when talking about dead people, especially dead people who are dead because of a failing of the bureaucracy you head. That is an actual person who died, and their family is entitled to be pissed, especially in a sleight (however small or unintentional) like this. I can pardon it as stupid word choice. But the family is the one feeling this and their opinions matter most.

A graphic from the *real* Romney campaign today. https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/534661_10151115364076121_257704972_n.jpg?dl=1 But... Romney's not offering ANY specifics. Ask Obama or the nearest liberal --- he'll tell you.

Chris Kelsay (bruised ego) Stephon Gilmore (mange-y dreadlocks) Terrance McGee (age) Jarius Byrd (interception sting) Chad Rhinehart (German heritage guilt)

Belichick had Brady on the list with"([throwing] shoulder)" every week of the season when he broke the TD and passing records. It's a !@#$ing farce. As a smartass protest, Chan / Nix ought to deliver a list with every player on the team: Eric Wood (lost an eyelash hair) Shawne Merriman (Tila Tequila nightmares) Kyle Williams (high motor went TOO high) Kelvin Shepphard (invisible) Andy Levitre (priapism) Stevie Johnson (Sharpie fume exhaustion) Marcel Dareus (lawn mower debris) Bryan Scott (undersized) Scott Chandler (overpowered by own awesomeness)