UConn James

According to an in-state poll conducted by EPIC, Romney is +1 in Michigan. In their previous polling in April, Obama had been ahead by 4. The RCP electoral college map has now dropped 20 points on Obama in the past week. Link

Here in CT it's a billion-dollar busway between Hartford and New Britain. Link. Why is it that liberal govs have such a hard-on for public transportation? Like providing yet another means of getting from one poor urban area to another poor urban area 10 miles away is the silver ing bullet to solving actual problems that face the entire state. It's just throwing money down yet another bottomless pit with the initial cost, upkeep, staffing, etc. More gubmint Jobs For The Boys! An additional stink to this is that Gov. Uh-Uh-Uhmmm-Uhhhh Malloy said this was to create jobs in CT and then they hire a company in Massachusetts to build it. This comes not two years removed from being $3.5B in debt, then his $3B increase in spending over two years, and the largest tax increase in CT history on all those "rich" people who make over $50,000 a year. This is the essential battle b/w Democrats and Republicans/Tea-Partiers: tax-and-spend-end-without-end-amen versus living within our means and keeping places affordable. As it stands, I don't think I can justify staying here for much longer.

Laura Vandervoort I don't think I've ever seen the Aliens movies in their entireties as they just weren't my genre, but the Prometheus trailer looks good and didn't seem to have any slimy aliens.... Highest hopes, sight unseen anything about it is "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World." I don't remember a Carrell disappointment on the big screen (I didn't watch The Office) and this story/scenario has a lot of promise.

http://www.firstrowsports.eu/ YAR!!

I don't mean to sound like a richard here, but... you'll pay for a DirectTV package that you almost never use plus cable, but you're still using a VCR? I mean, DVR and Tivo have been around for a while. I'd kill the DTV, get a DVR box (which probably cuts out the need for a digital adapter) and live the good life. Then go to a buddy's, a sports bar or watch online ( ) for games.

If that is what you believe, as that's what most people say the path is... there is every indication that Obama will simply kick the can down the road. Why? Because that's what he did last year when the House Repubs had begrudgingly agreed to DEEP DoD cuts (and Cantor had to work it to get that support, but they got it lined up) to accompany DEEP entitlement cuts/reform AND a marginal tax increase that Republicans were prepared to take the political hit for) that was earmarked to pay off debt. I believe it was WSJ that broke the news a few months ago that it was Obama who had walked away from the deal, that had met the initial goals, at the 11th hour. It was naked politics and Obama needing to preserve the class warfare narrative for the election. If he didn't move on it when Republicans were making huge concessions, what makes you think we'll be able to get a debt deal done in a hypothetical second term? He quite evidently doesn't want to put this country on a track of fiscal sanity.

♫ Out of the blue and into the gray On RCP, Nevada's now in play. ♫ Also now a tie in Iowa and a toss-up in Colorado and these are NBC/Marist polls....

As clear an example of the Peter Principle as I've seen in football. DC? Yes. Having anything to do with offense or the overarching management of the entire team? Nope.

Twenty minutes to read, review, debate and vote on a 200-page bill? Yeah. If it were my job to represent my voting district and stevestojan like this kept happening by the decree of one person/party to harangue legislators, I'd start getting pissed too. This is one of the methods for sneaking in unsavory laws or being able to say that Rep. X voted against Bill Y and ain't he a bastard because that would've made manna rain from heaven. Twenty minutes for 200 pages? You've gotta be kidding me. Remember the previous NFL CBA and why Ralph Wilson voted against it because there wasn't time enough to read it? Because the NFLPA and league office tried similar tactics to stuff it down the owners' throats so they could say they got something done. Then, less than 2 years later, every owner was saying what a bad CBA they'd signed.

Link

Hope you watched this and it inspires you to action!

Yeah, I wish there were a scene at the end with TLJ to close the loop, but...

Watching my dog do circles on his long leash in the field/boat launch next to our house, tennis ball in his mouth, going full-bore and loving it. Have to appreciate these moments, b/c they're not here for long enough. Tuesday night spaghetti when my brother and 4-year-old niece come over after he picks her up from his ex's. Also.... every Tuesday night ~8:30 p.m. when she goes home and I say/think to myself, "Oh my dear Lord, I'm NEVER having kids!" That's the good thing about nieces and nephews --- you get the good moments and mostly don't have to be there for the bad. Mowing the grass on a nice non-humid morning. I know a lot of people hate this chore, but I'm liking it so much more now that we picked up an old Cub Cadet to do the aforementioned field next to the house. Watching old Bob Ross painting shows on PBS and drifting into a non-medicinal dream state. I don't do drugs and rarely drink, so this is as close as I'll ever get to being high. Also, Saturday naps during MLB on FOX baseball games (Red Sox, most often). A cold Vanilla Coke on a warm day. Pre-roadtrip (over 100 miles) excitement, when we start out at ~ midnight. It's weird --- I just get a little giddy.

I liked MIB3. It closed a number of open questions that had been brought up in the first two. And that ending was so poignant. Great casting for Josh Brolin as Young K. That was just a spot-on impression --- that's something that's been tried before in any number of movies and it's a gambit every time because I've seen it fail miserably. I'm sorry if you were looking for a Woody Allen movie or something, but that's not what MIB is. Agreed about Depp. He's basically played the same character in different garb in almost every one of his recent movies. Likewise, there's a reason why many people can't stand DMB or Nickelback.

Merry Natal Anniversary, Focker!

According to Gallup today... Veterans Give Romney Big Lead Over Obama

At this point in May 1980, Jimmy Carter was up by 8. He was tied with Reagan in the last week of October. Polling is one thing. People will say things and, believe it or not a good number will support a sitting president/continuity no matter the party and hope s/he can be better and turn the ship of state to the right direction... right up until the moment those people step into the booth or fill in those bubbles. This will not quite be 1980, even tho it looks so similar right down to Romney's Republican Hair and Obama's version of stagflation with QEIII/8-9% unemployment (higher, when considering those who've given up looking for work)/deficits and debt. People lean further to a favored side of the spectrum than they did 30 years ago. This will be close and Independents will make it or break it. Polls schmolls. Romney will keep hitting at the economy, deficit/debt and employment. Obama will try to talk about anything and everything besides those, hoping voters look at his left hand while he shuffles Three Card Monty with his right.

Amid the story in the past week about 4 climbers dying on the descent from the summit because of clustering that impeded movement (~150-200 climbers went during a window of 'good' weather), there is this story... which seems to refute Tom's notion that any hope of rescue at/near the summit is a "pipe dream." Then again, it required a young guy probably at peak fitness carrying another (impressive itself, given the givens of Everest) who abandoned his own quest to save someone he'd only recently met, and of nationality/heritage that aren't exactly on the best terms. After all the above stuff in this thread, gotta say this is pretty inspiring. Everest climber skips summit, rescues friend

To put it bluntly, I like that the new Bond movies aren't just 274 sophomoric one-liners in a row. Much like Nolan's "Batman Begins" franchise, the more nearly realistic style is appreciated.

Yup. I flipped the names. Not mindin' my Ps and Qs, I guess. Will fix the OP. With kickers, sure, I can see that with high-pressure-50-yarder-to-make-the-playoffs. You need someone who is highly accurate, has the leg, and can handle the situation. Punter has less of a consideration in accuracy and more to do with what I guess one'd call "touch" for pin-down situations, and a boomer leg when either a long punt (i.e. from own endzone) or hang time is needed. Given the givens, I think now might be the best window to make a change, if Powell can show well or at least show an upward progression that will soon bypass Moorman's decline.

If Potter was drafted to be a kickoff guy, then it might be possible for Powell to stick a spot as a punter plus the kickoff specialist. Cater, the former Bills punter who worked with Powell, said in articles that he was booming kickoffs (tried on spec) into shrubberies well past the back of the end zone. That might be an extra incentive in not tying up that extra roster spot that could prompt a shift for Chan and Buddy. ... If Powell can show it. True that. It's a measure of how do you weigh comfort/loyalty vs. production/upside. Too many times we've seen Brian snapping his chinstrap and flinging it to the side in frustration. I did a breakdown last off-season and his stats had started to measurably slip in roughly 2008-9, IIRC. Four years into a decline... there's a point where you've gotta put a racehorse to pasture, and we crossed it. Sorry, b/c BM's a great guy and he was a lone bright spot for many years. That should not keep his spot safe, tho. Powell was reportedly working with former Chargers punter Darren Bennett, of Aussie extraction, on that and the end-over-end punts that are more difficult to field/catch and typically have a more favorable bounce.

Frank Gehry Paul Newman (couldn't believe how short he was) A couple of CT governors and pols Brian Williams (NBC anchor) Geno Auriemma running around campus back in the day Sue Bird (sat next to her in a gen-ed French class --- she was pretty cool), Diana Taurasi, and a bunch of other UConn players

Wisconsin has now been taken out of blue, after having been shaded that way for a long time. So... it HAS changed a bit. I think Obama will win Colorado and NH for 13 more, but nothing else and will lose by 10. Then again, Oregon is in play according to what I've seen. Oregon!

RIP BiB.

A NYT poll released this morning has Romney up by 3. Romney is +6 among women. So much for the manufactured WoW....