RuntheDamnBall

Sounds like that gas is back.

I hate the French so much I think we should also give our own country back to the Brits just to spite them. [/sarcasm]

We could add a button for it at least. And a "HotPockets" button, a "Halliburton" button, since all these signifiers have become so devoid of meaning that smiley faces tend to say more.

The extremist is absolutely the enemy of the average Muslim, because the latter is the one who has to live with the stereotypes and the violence, and any profiling perpetuated by the former. I absolutely agree that having Muslim leaders at the fore denounce the violence is critical, but it must be this and other kinds of support, and not apologies, that we expect from them. Implicating all Muslims under blanket statements as some like to do here only exacerbates the situation. A continuous presence from these leaders really is essential, and cutting any and all ties with extremists, financial or otherwise, will really strengthen solidarity with the majority of the Muslim community and the rest of the Western world.

Shows how quickly I've forgotten hockey How about the Flyers?

Boy, I'll go to a Stars game just to sh-- on Roenick. So actually his was a pretty good strategy.

I have never been to an away game for the Bills, partially because the opportunity hasn't arisen, but moreso because I feel like it'd be a pretty terrible experience. It's not quite like baseball where you may be able to civilly discuss stats or the game at large, or where everyone cheers for a big play regardless of what team you're on (all null and void if we're talking Sox-Yanks, of course). There are only 16 football games, every game means a little more, the division rivalries are big and things can get mean. That said, what have your experiences been as a Bills fan on another team's turf? Positives, negatives, all of it. I'd like to know. Where have you encountered the most Bills fans? What about those of you who are regular attendees in other cities? I thought it might be interesting to talk football, even if indirectly.

I think that might be his point.

Nick, be careful out there. Those of us in NYC send out our hearts to you. We are just as worried.

Never watch TV news, except for with 'mute' on so I can see pictures sometimes. I just listened to two hours of NPR coverage and didn't hear any idiot perspective. It was very refreshing.

Whereas you sit at God's right hand? Make no assumptions about me, friend. My point, precisely, which you pretty deftly avoided, is that the Bible pretty much spells out that it's OK to own slaves. Popular opinion/morals rightly dictate otherwise. If you cannot recognize that the Bible was written by capital-M Men and edited by them, then you are missing the larger point.

About as long as it took for this to shift from a discussion about terrorism to another opportunity to bash Democrats, without hearing from any aside from an idiot congressman. This attack is made all the more reprehensible by the fact that the G-8 summit was actually about improving life worldwide for all peoples. My heart goes out to Blair and the whole country. To have such an amazing day with yesterday's announcements and then to have to deal with this is just awful. I'll say no more.

You can find rationale in the Word of God for slavery. Somehow popular opinion trumps that word today. It might not all be so black and white. Also, try not to forget that Jesus embraced the outcasts of the time and saw them as people when others would not. When the scriptures conflict with justice, I believe we should choose the latter every time.

Biden has something good to say every once in awhile, but still has the Senate record and an unsuccessful presidential bid 20 years ago hanging over him. I'll admit Clark was the guy I voted for in the primaries. If he's running again he should (and had better) have a much more organized campaign. I wonder, if Hillary does run, if Clark makes way for her as a friend of the Clintons. Perhaps he'd join her ticket? That'd be interesting. I am not saying I'd vote for it, but it'd be interesting.

17 percent picking Kerry, now that is messed up. They must love losing. Even a complete Hillary hater has to believe she would have a better chance than Kerry on a second go-around; she is much better at making impressions.

This is pretty much partisan government "lahjik" (still don't get that one, I'll have to search it). To assign it to liberal or conservative ideology alone is to give one side too much credit. I think the idea is that we all be represented in a court that makes decisions for all of us, over the long term. It is supposed to be (ahem) apolitical (of course not the case), and interpret our laws (again, unfortunately not always the case). This is not a case of one side of partisan hackery ceding ground to the other, it's a case of creating an environment that will make decisions that sit well with the American people for around 20 years. If the court becomes subject to the whims of one side or the other, as friends like Tom Delay would like, it becomes as useless as the rest of the government, as if it isn't close enough. I think another Justice like O'Connor would fit the mold well, like EC-Bills says.

Let me rephrase. The music industry without question takes advantage of young people with talent with promises of a lot of money and a lot of support. This does not make these musicians smart, good businesspeople, and it certainly doesn't make them people who see the longview or good students of music business history. What the majors provide is a vast, expensive network of resources, but they don't nurture acts like they used to. Hence the oft-quoted idea that you would not see an artist who builds a long, steady career like all the 70s Asylum artists and Neil Young, et. al. There wasn't pressure to sell two million (which for some artists is STILL a failure these days) but there was profit, because nobody was blowing their load. Now everything is SO image-based and profit-driven, I argue, that the majors don't know what to do because they've replaced all the music business people with business people. These assclowns are running around on expense accounts paid for by the musicians, ultimately, talking about a lot of things they don't know anything about. Major label A&R these days is a complete joke. They had an audience of probably around 100,000-200,000, and probably quadrupled it with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. That's pretty major. It is a unique situation, I'll grant you, but now they can play 5,000 seat places instead of 1-2,000. That is a huge change. That's probably how it should be. How many bands have you seen or heard that are all studio wonder, but can't play live for sh--? I think it's a pretty important thing happening to music. There will always be pop spectacle, and it's become its own theatre beyond music. But I think the re-focus on live performance can be good for everyone. Though touring can be pretty harsh on an artist. You're probably right on this one. I plan to. I do think the copyright laws need some revision, but that's another discussion. You can turn either one of them off. But I think more podcasters mean more choices. And are the podcasters getting paid off like radio stations? I imagine some are, but at this point I would say it is more like the infant stages of localized radio used to be, without depending on geographical and governmental limitations. Creative and passionate people getting a chance to send their views to the world. Sound idealistic? Sure. I know it's just a matter of time before the FCC mommies and corporate daddies get involved. But right now it's a rift, and I think a pleasant one.

Except for when the aid finally gets there it's been divvied up by contractors and friends so many times that it's a fraction of what it's purported to be for the people on the receiving end. I agree with you on the latter point, the best thing we can do is help people to help themselves. But who's to say that aid can't be used that way?

Trying to get this one moved to PPP Joe?

I think his point was that I don't understand business and I am out for some revolution. I just countered that. Take a good look at a record contract sometime and you'll see how recording artists get screwed. Johnny Coli is right, artists were getting screwed before, and most artists have only ever made their money through touring. What free distribution does is allow this music to be heard, it fosters exposure. Conversely, P2P is not good in that it fosters the idea that music is more disposable and can be gotten for free. What you do to counter this is offer a product of better quality/consistency, that is more reliable, that is something that people believe in (which is in truth what music has always been about). For added value, a client like ITunes charges less per record (usually 10 bucks) and offers a lot of other interesting content like bands' playlists, links and recommendations, video content, digital booklets. Not the same as your tangible gatefold LP sleeve, but it's a start. Musicians depend upon fans. Now tell me, who is doing better -- Vanilla Ice -- sold a boatload of records -- or that indie band that sells 50,000, plays to five hundred every night? That band is a success on one level, a giant failure on the major level. I find it slightly ironic that people who want the government out of our lives, power to the people / freedom etc. want the government to regulate how we consume media rather than forcing business to adapt and letting the consumer make his/her own decisions.

Wilco sold more physical records and sold out more concerts and made more actual money after letting people hear their record so they could decide it meant something to them. Novel concept. But "whatever, man." Your stereotyping is just as tired to me as I imagine my views are to you. I have seen what the conglomeration to three major labels has done to music and the people who work in it firsthand, and 95% of them would tell you it used to be better, before every label was owned by some bigger company that had no interest in music -- forcing it to become just another product. But you know better, I suppose, from all your music business experience. Ultimately, money is the key to happiness. It's all that matters, right?

My point is that the business models need to be adaptable, and P2P is forcing this. Why would people go to your site? Well, if they respect and believe in your work, they should pay for it. Besideswhich, what about people who go to the library and get your audio books? Hundreds of people could possibly be using your product (gasp!) for free, instead of each personally buying a copy. But as we all know, libraries are havens for communism. Shut 'em down. Note that I said free distribution, not "getting it for free." If you read my first paragraph you'd see I said it's imperative for artists and producers to be compensated for their work. If they can't make a living doing it, how can they possibly be expected to produce it?

Did you ever tape anything off the radio when you were a kid? There are limitations, obviously. Bootlegging (i.e. copying and selling) is obvious copyright infringement. And artists should have some kind of compensation for their work, otherwise no one is going to make the kind of music/art we want (although in the mainstream, it's hard to say they are making it, but I digress). I think the emphasis should be on free distribution, but not necessarily "free" music / movies, etc. And the emergence of free file sharing technologies is in part a response to the fact that people don't want to pay for garbage. Conversely, TONS of people are paying for their music at the ITunes music store, music they like and want but perhaps don't want to pay up to 20 bucks for when all they want is one song. The quality is at a guaranteed level (though not CD quality) and there is a certainty as to what is available, unlike P2P. Point being, P2P networks have forced the industry at least in part to realize it is in complete dinosaur status and it must catch up (or prosecute) to survive. Anyone who thinks "artists" are losing out here has never had any experience with the music industry. I have, and I'm happy to talk about it, just as I'm happy to hear from military folks who have much more front-line experience and knowledge than I do. The overwhelming majority of art is lost and artists lose out the minute they sign the dotted line with a major. There are so many middlemen, there is so much focus on money, so little to do with music it is beyond belief. Most mid-level artists, the people you'd think would be suffering, are actually benefiting from a free distribution model. Witness Wilco, who put out their record for free to eager ears, won a battle with their record company, and still ended up surpassing by a mile any of their previous record sales. And with blogs and free distribution joined together, a lot of unheard artists trying to get their name out have more avenues. The record industry no longer has a lockdown on this material. They don't like it, because more people win and they can't control it. Their answer is to become larger and larger conglomerates that are more and more distanced from the music-making process and more focused on a bottom line. The irony being that the people at the top (as well as the ground-level people like A&R) are all about marketing and have no idea about music. A-level music business people have been completely purged because the profits are never enough. Meanwhile, the major-label strategy becomes more and more to focus on image and simulation. And we wonder why "music sucks today." Call it stealing, call it whatever you want, but I think in the end this is going to be good for music, and people who make and listen to music. The industry is just prolonging the inevitable because it is unprepared. [/rant]

I grew up in Fredonia, home of the Bills' training camp till the late 90s. Chuck Knox stopped by and talked to me in his go-kart when I was a toddler. Later on, Butch Rolle threw me a football. All my heroes signed my trading cards. My dad and I would scope out the rookies and free agents and make bets on who would and wouldn't make the cut. Even Bruce making a break for it every time to avoid autographs and publicity (when he eventually made it to camp) is a fun memory, even if he never signed for me. I knew he was one of the best. The Bills are pretty much inseparable from my youth, and even though they left to train at SJF, they are my hometown team. I enjoy a lot of other sports, but I don't care about another franchise or single athlete the way I do about the Bills. edit: sorry for not reading the inital disclaimer about non-WNY folks. But like many here I left WNY for greener employment pastures.